Ralph was born December 6, 1925 in Manhatten KS. He was the only child of Ralph R. Johnston Sr. and Inez D. Morris. Ralph married Thelma Ann Schreiber April 14th 1945. They were married 48 years before she passed away in July 1993.
Ralph is survived by daughter Kristen Alexander, son Kelly Johnston, granddaughter Melanie Zinger, son in law Glenn Alexander.
Another granddaughter, Amy Alexander, pre-deceased him as a young teenager.
Ralph enlisted in the Merchant marines in December 1943. After his service was over, he went to Cawker City, KS where his mother, father and several other relatives lived. He went to work for his father at the Johnston Trucking Company owned by his father. He drove a cattle truck for him from 1945-1954. He moved to Joplin, MO. in 1954 where he worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad from 1954-1955. He moved to Kansa City, Mo in 1955. There he worked for Auto Transport hauling cars from 1955-1959. Later in 1959 he went to work for P.I.E. (Pacific Intermountain Express) hauling all kinds of freight. He worked for P.I.E. until 1990 when he was able to retire. He received several driving awards at P.I.E., but his biggest accomplishment was driving 2 million miles without any incidents. Until he passed, he could still tell you every route, road or highway he took to get somewhere.
Ralph was a quiet, kind and generous man. He was a good father and grandfather. He loved his granddaughters very much and was so proud of them. He loved to talk about trucks and driving across the country. He had a real soft spot for animals, especially dogs. He volunteered at a dog shelter. He would help feed and walk them. He couldn’t wait for the dogs to come around his apartment and give them a little treat.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18