February 26, 1937 – December 6, 2023
Walker Talmage Johnson Jr. was born in Nampa, Idaho, at the Samaritan Hospital on the Northwest Nazarene College campus on February 26, 1937, to Helen (Pounds) Johnson and W. T. Johnson, Sr. In his acceptance speech after being elected the 33rd general superintendent, Johnson quipped that, theological understandings aside, he was a Nazarene before he was a Christian. He often joked he was born a Nazarene due to the hospital he was born in, and he took his last breath while holding the hand of a Nazarene nurse, an Olivet Nazarene University alumna who grew up going to College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas.
He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 63 years, Genell (Crawford) Johnson.
He is survived by his sons, Michael and wife, Sarah (Adams) Johnson, Nashville, TN and Jeffrey and wife, Julie (Pelton) Johnson, Cypress, TX ; five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren; Chad, Amy (Freese), and Reston Johnson, Salisbury, MD, Brian and Ashley (Foster), Braden, Tenley, Lynnon, and Hazel Johnson, Sharpsburg, GA, Austin, Rebekah (Lain) and Homer Johnson, Nashville, TN, Jenae (Johnson), Preston, Ava, and Indie Kiser, Houston, TX, and Jana (Johnson), Zach, and Wyatt Daniels, Ashland, KY; sister, Karen Johnson Cline, nieces, Kristal (Thompson) Casey and Angel (Thompson) Schwing, Houston, TX), and nephew, Shane Thompson, Oklahoma City, OK; sister and brother-in-law, Faye (Crawford) and Duane Jones, Franklin, TN.
Johnson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in religion from Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) and was ordained in 1958. He served as an evangelist from 1958 to 1961 before pastoring Elk City Church of the Nazarene from 1961 to 1965. He served as founding pastor of the Oklahoma City Western Oaks Church of the Nazarene from 1965 to 1975. Both his alma mater, Southern Nazarene University as well as Trevecca Nazarene University awarded him honorary doctoral degrees in recognition of his years of faithful leadership and service.
In 1975, Johnson was elected as superintendent of the Mississippi District, which he led until 1980 when he was elected to lead the Tennessee District where he served until 1994. From 1994 – 2001, Johnson was global director of Sunday School Ministries (now Nazarene Discipleship International).
At the 25th General Assembly and Conventions of the Church of the Nazarene in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 2001 Talmadge was elected general superintendent. He received emeritus status at the 26th General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene in 2005.
In the earlier years of retirement, Talmadge served as interim district superintendent for the Southwest Oklahoma and Kentucky districts and was a frequent revival and camp meeting speaker. In more recent years, he was a part of the teaching team for the Agape Sunday School at Trevecca Community Church. His hobbies included cheering on his beloved New York Yankees and Oklahoma Sooners.
A celebration of life will be held on Tuesday, 19 December 2023, at Trevecca Community Church of the Nazarene. A visitation with the family will be held at 9 a.m. A Celebration Service will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by a Celebration Lunch at noon to which all are invited (RSVP to [email protected]). The service will also be live streamed via Trevecca Community Church YouTube Channel.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the Johnson family by selecting “Add a Memory” below the obituary at HermitageFH.com.
