George Oscar Johnson

George (a.k.a. “Grunt”), passed from life as we know it, Monday February 15, 2016, in the wee hours of the morning. He succumbed to respiratory failure after miraculously surviving a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm on January 30, 2016. He fought for his life for two weeks at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, Washington with a humbling amount of family and friends at his bedside.

George was born in Orting, Washington, to Cyril O. Johnson and Ruby Hartman Johnson. He was the second born child, and first of three sons. His father was an electrician and his mother was a homemaker. His older sister Betty, and two younger brothers, Howard and Edward, all grew up in the Orting and Tacoma areas of Washington.

He attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, and graduated in June 1947. He enlisted in the Air Force as a young man and spent three years serving his country as an aircraft mechanic, until honorable discharge in 1950. In 1950, he married his next-door neighbor sweetheart, Patricia Louise Shaw (deceased in 2002), and they were married for 17 years. They had one child, Georgia Louise, born in 1957. They divorced in 1968 and he never remarried or had other children.

During his life he worked various jobs, including as a home delivery milk man for Carnation Company, an attendant for Standard Gas Company, a cashier for Food King Grocery Store, and finally spending 20 years as a model maker at the Boeing plant in Kent, Washington, retiring in his early 60’s, young enough to enjoy many years of free time. He had a relentless sense of humor, was a perfect handyman, had unbreakable patience with attention to detail, and was a very honest and caring man.

One of his greatest accomplishments and a dream come true, was earning his private pilot’s license in 1969. He later bought the most beautiful airplane in the world, a 1946 polished aluminum Cessna 140. Together they traveled to many airshows, where they received several first place ribbons. Years later, he built from scratch, an experimental aerobatic airplane, a KR-1, named “Crème-d’-Mint”. To support his love of aircraft, for the last 35 years of his life, he lived on a private airstrip in Graham, Washington. He was the first resident to move in along the edge of the runway and eventually had a beautiful home and two airplane hangars. He enjoyed doing metal machining, mowing his 2.5 acre property, and just sitting on the front porch watching airplanes take off and land. His other hobbies included working out at the gym, shooting trap and skeet, and over 50 years of playing golf. In his early 70’s, he developed Parkinson’s disease, yet remained exceedingly active, strong, and optimistic despite tremors, weakness, and increasing falls.

Although he had many family members and friends whom he loved dearly, his greatest source of pride and joy was his daughter Georgia. Named after him and Patricia, from the moment she was born he spent limitless hours with her in all aspects of her life. Describing their relationship as “special” is such an understatement; they were two peas in a pod. They were so connected to each other and relied on each other’s love, devotion, and strength, until the end.

George is survived by his only daughter, Georgia Gibson (Austin, Texas), only granddaughter, Erica Greminger (Corvallis, Oregon), older sister, Betty Torkelson (Puyallup, Washington), one great granddaughter, five nieces and one nephew. He is preceded in death by his younger brothers Howard Johnson (Riverside, CA) and Edward Johnson (Nevada City, CA). No services are being held.