Herb Johnson's Obituary
Herbert Leroy Johnson, Lt. Col. USAF (retired)
August 19, 1931 - February 7, 2017
Herb Johnson, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend and proud patriot, passed away peacefully at home on February 7th due to complications of heart disease. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Eleanor, daughters Karen Harris (Stanley) and Cheryl Clemence (Ken), 8 grandchildren: Geoffrey (Jennifer), Nicholas, Althea, Thomas, Alexander, Violet Harris of Bellingham; Matthew and Allison Clemence of Granite Bay CA, and a great grandson, James Harris.
Born in Attleboro, MA to Everett and Martha Johnson, he was raised on the family dairy farm. Herb spent his childhood helping his father on the farm and delivering milk on their route. He enjoyed driving the tractor, and he loved cars – and was known for making do when necessary. As a teenager he outfitted the passenger seat of his car with a student arm desk.
After graduating from N. Attleboro High School in 1949, Herb worked as a soda jerk, and as a mechanic working on cars. In view of pending draft notices for the Korean War, he enlisted in the Air Force in 1951, and served in upstate New York. He applied and was accepted into Officer Candidate School in Arlington Texas and entered flight engineer school in Sacramento at Mather AFB, training on the B36. After transferring to Fairchild AFB, Spokane, he attended Washington State University evening classes at a local high school where he spotted a cute girl on the other side of the class. Each week he moved one row closer and finally sat next to Eleanor and offered to take her home, then raced back for his next class.
Herb applied for Flight School to train as a pilot in Arizona, because he liked planes even more than cars. When he was reassigned to Malden Missouri, he made a 'detour' to Spokane to visit Eleanor and subsequently failed a “pop” eye exam. Because pilots weren’t allowed to wear glasses, he returned to work as a flight engineer working in El Paso TX. After a Christmas trip to Seattle to propose, Eleanor and Herb were married at First Methodist Church in Seattle in May 1958. The newlyweds honeymooned by driving across the USA to Massachusetts for a second reception with Herb’s family, and then back to El Paso.
In January 1959 the couple moved to Montgomery AL to attend Squadron Officer’s School. The following orders took them to Mather AFB in Sacramento for Navigation School. Karen was born in September before Herb was transferred to first Ashiya Air Base, Japan, and then Naha, Okinawa. It was an interesting adventure with trips together to Hong Kong and Tokyo, visiting Okinawan beaches, seeing the local culture and more frighteningly, a typhoon.
1962 orders were to Waco TX. Cheryl was born there in 1963 and the family moved to Wichita Falls, TX. After attending Officer Maintenance School in 1966 at Chanute AFB Illinois, Herb served in Vietnam. Offered positions Washington or New Jersey, he made the choice to move to McChord AFB. In 1970 he was promoted to Lt Colonel.
He received his BA and MBA from Pacific Lutheran University.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1972, Herb enjoyed multiple "mini" careers as a commercial fisherman, working for Knapp College of Business, selling commercial real estate, and teaching at Pierce College, before starting an accounting and tax business with Eleanor, which they owned together, working side by side for 25 years.
Throughout the years, Herb proved to be a man of many talents, including building a boat, and a family cabin at Ocean Shores. He enjoyed traveling, particularly cruises and road trips with Eleanor; traveling to family reunions in Minnesota and Massachusetts, and to California to visit daughter Cheryl and her family. While his greatest joy was being married to Eleanor, he loved the outdoors, especially the ocean, and spending time with his family and friends, including the “Monday Night Dominos” group.
In addition to his wife, daughters and grandchildren, Herb is survived by sisters Muriel Smith (Richard) of Connecticut, Nancy Johnston of Massachusetts and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.
Interment with Military Honors will be held at 12:30 PM on Saturday, March 25th at Mountain View Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 4100 Steilacoom Blvd S.W., Lakewood. A memorial service will follow at 2 PM at Little Church on the Prairie, 6310 Motor Avenue S.W., also in Lakewood, Washington.
Herb will be lovingly remembered for his devotion to his family, his strong values and work ethic, his love for his country, and his sense of humor. He will be dearly missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Little Church on the Prairie, Lakewood, Washington, or the American Heart Association.
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