Howard Elmer Johnson, CWO W4 USAF (Retired)

Howard Elmer Johnson, CWO W4 USAF (Retired), of Round Rock, TX, age 88, passed away peacefully at 1:35 pm on May 7, 2016, surrounded by loving family members and friends. He was born in Corpus Christi, TX, to Elmer Franklin Johnson and Gladys Florence Williams Johnson, on his mother’s birthday, March 3, 1928. As he noted in his autobiography, he was not born in a hospital, but in a little 3-room “shotgun” house on Comanche St. in Corpus Christi. This type of house was called a shotgun house because all of the rooms were connected by a single door in each room, you could see from the front door all the way out the back door. The last time he was in Corpus, the house was still standing, just off the Cross Town Freeway.

His father worked as one of a very small group of paid city firemen and was required to stay at the fire station for 6 days and nights and then was off for 24

hours. When Howard was about 3 years old, he went to live with his Grandma, and attended Edward Furman grade school.

Howard considered the time he spent in the military to be the most important part of his life, and the most significant contribution he could have ever made. He served with distinction, first in the Army Air Corps, and then in the US Air Force from 1946 to 1973, when he retired. He always wanted to be a soldier from his earliest recollections, and joined as soon as he was old enough to serve. He worked in radar and ground electronics throughout his career, and traveled extensively setting up airfield electronics at Air Force landing strips all over the world. Among his most memorable postings was as part of the Berlin Airlift, and in Vietnam, where his unit managed air traffic control for the entire theater of operations.

He received many decorations and recognitions during his lifetime of service, including the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service medal, the Air Force

Commendation medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit medal, the WWII Victory medal, and the Vietnam

Service medal. Because of exposure to Agent Orange and other factors related to his service in Vietnam, he was granted a 100% Disabled Veteran status, but

he never complained nor lamented his choice to serve. He was enormously proud of his service. Among the many military-related organizations he supported, he most valued his lifetime memberships in the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1973, Howard served with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, working as a field auditor in the Medicaid Fraud

Unit. He retired from the state of Texas in 1993 at the age of 65.

Howard loved the times he spent working on family ranches as a youth, and spent many years working with his wife Louise to first renovate her family ranch and home, and then as a gentleman rancher. His times at the “farm,” as he called it, were among the happiest of his life, and there were many memorable family events that took place there. While there were many ways to get around on the farm, his favorite by far was his old reliable FarmAll tractor. All of his grandchildren remember riding with him on it, the whole bunch of them chortling with delight as they bounced around the pastures.

Howard was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Bertie Louise Franklin Johnson, who passed away after a long illness in November, 2012. He is

survived by his two half-brothers, Bill and Randy Reynolds, and three children: son Dr. Laurence F. Johnson, Austin, TX (and spouse Dr. Maria Cisneros-Solis

Johnson); daughter Pam Nalty, Round Rock Texas (and spouse Stephen Luther Neeley); and son, Howard David Johnson, Caldwell, Idaho, (and spouse Virginia Johnson). He was blessed with six grandchildren: Alexis Elizabeth Johnson Devine, Denver, Colorado; Laurence Alejandro Cisneros Johnson, Austin, TX; Christian Dashiell Johnson, Austin, TX; Erich Franklin Johnson, Caldwell, Idaho; Michael Edward Nalty, Austin, TX; and Miranda Rose Nalty, Austin, TX. He was additionally blessed with two great-grandchildren, Ava Marie Devine, and Mateo Edward Devine, of Denver, Colorado.

Howard’s last years saw him increasingly confined to his home, and his life was given much joy, as was his entire family, through the dedicated and caring efforts of Meghan Hays and Florence Nyoke, who were not just skilled caregivers, but grew to become his best friends. They will miss him as much as any family member.

Services will be held at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home on Thursday, May 12, at 10 am, followed by an interment ceremony at the Restland Cemetery in Gatesville, Texas, where he will join his beloved wife Louise in perpetual rest. The family will receive well-wishers immediately after the interment at the family farm.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Disabled Veterans’ Association.