Kenneth Lowell Johnson

Kenneth Lowell Johnson was born May 18, 1947, in Des Moines, Iowa to Leslie and Dorothy Tillman Johnson. He attended Nash Elementary School, Washington Irving Junior High, and North High School, where he ran track and played quarterback for the varsity football team. He was drafted into the United States Army and served this country in the Vietnam War.

After returning home from Vietnam, Kenneth secured a sales position with Prudential Insurance Company where he was later promoted to Sales Manager. He remained employed at Prudential for 19 years. He later started his own brokerage company, Insure HealthCare, in Houston, Texas. Kenneth continued to manage his company in Houston remotely even while he and his wife, Vera, relocated to Portland, Oregon. He maintained his company until he and his wife officially retired and relocated to The Villages, Florida for a life of leisure.

During their life in The Villages Kenneth, joined The Sophisticated Gentleman of Florida and served on the Executive Board for several years. He played golf weekly with the fellows of the Four Gone Wild group and really cherished the camaraderie. Kenneth and Vera traveled extensively together and often with friends and family until Kenneth was no longer able to do so due to health issues.

Kenneth loved to have fun and laughed all the time. He also loved to entertain at his home and enjoyed having New Years Day Gumbo parties. He was most proud of the monthly Bible Study that was hosted in their home with Bishop Barry Henson officiating. Kenneth enjoyed talking to people, he never met a stranger, and he always told them about life in The Villages. He also loved debating issues with friends and anyone else who would listen.

Kenneth leaves to mourn, his wife of almost 25 years, Vera Spencer Johnson, two daughters, Jo Lena Johnson of St. Louis, Missouri, and Kelsi Moore of Houston, Texas. A granddaughter, Kiarah Thompson and a great-grandson, Kane of Houston, Texas.

Kenneth also inherited, by marriage, a bonus son, Jarrell Liner (Kim) of Katy, Texas and two grandchildren Sania Liner and Jarrell Liner II, and a bonus daughter, Emily Liner McGhee (Nick), and three grandchildren, Laylah, Ashton, and Kora of McKinney, Texas. He considered Chris Bynote of Houston, Texas whom he helped raise from a young age, his bonus son also.

He leaves two sisters, Rose Mary Jackson (Terry - deceased) of Madison, Wisconsin and Leslie Clevert (Charles) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kenneth has several brothers and sisters-in-laws from the Spencer family: Howard, Tommy and Loretta, Norman, Emma, Marvin and Hattie, Carl and Eleatha, and Ernestine and Ray Rogers and Gloria and Elmo Lusane. He has a host of nieces, nephews, two aunts, cousins, and many long-term friends across the country to mourn his death. He also leaves two long-term friends from Des Moines, Iowa that he always remembered and asked about — Robert Connor and Cecilia Collier.

A Celebration of Life Service will be handled by the Rhoton Funeral Home in Carrollton, Texas but held at the Dignity Memorial Celebration Center, 7134 Powell Road, Wildwood, Florida at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Internment will be at the Florida National Veterans Cemetery, 6502 SW 102nd Avenue, Bushnell, Florida at 2:00 p.m. following the memorial services.

A repast will be held at the Dignity Celebration Center at 3:00-6:00.