Baker City, Oregon
Charles William Johnson II, 76, of Baker City, died July 18, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
His memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Church of the Nazarene, 1250 Hughes Lane. Pastor Jon Privett and Pastor Lennie Spooner of the First Church of the Nazarene will officiate. Friends are invited to join the family after the service for a reception at the home of Charles’ daughter, Charline Simmons.
Inurnment will be later at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Visitations will be until 3 p.m. today at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave.
Charles was born on March 29, 1928, at Pitcher, Okla., to Charles William and Flossie Lucille Watkins Johnson. In his teens and 20s he worked various jobs, including ranch work, at a junk yard and as a lineman for the railroad until the requirements of insurance forced him to quit because of his disabilities.
He married Lillie Seiver at Galena, Kan., on Dec. 29, 1962. The couple later moved to Baker City, where they have resided for 23 years. He then became a stay-at-home dad who took care of his five children.
He loved spending time with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and his dog, Suzi. He loved fishing, shopping, painting pictures, woodworking, leather work and telling all of his many stories that his family all loved listening to.
He also collected John Wayne movies and pictures and he loved his Hank Williams Sr. music. In his last four years he also started collecting die-cast cars and trucks that he would show to anyone who would take the time to listen and look.
He was a very generous man who loved his wife and children very much. He will be missed so much by all of them.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Flossie; his sister, Brenda; two brothers; and his grandson, Cody Johnson.
Survivors include his wife, Lillie, of 41 years; children, Charline Simmons, and her husband, Jeron, Charles Johnson and his wife, Eunice, Beulah Harmon and her husband, Jim, Clifford Johnson, and James Johnson and his wife, Sara, all of Baker City; 16 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; sisters, Alberta, Peggy, and Sharon Moss; and brothers, Donny and Joe Potter.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lions Eye Bank through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, July 23, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor