Robert S. Johnson

09-22-2011

© Enid News and Eagle

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

©Glenn

GOLTRY — Robert "Bob" S. Johnson passed away at his home in Goltry on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. Born on Feb. 11, 1930, he was 81-years-old. Through these words the family shares their love for their husband, father and grandfather and hope it inspires others to a life well lived.

On Feb. 23, 1952, Bob married Verla Jane Schmidt of Goltry. Even before that day, a relationship had blossomed with Verla that lasted through nearly 60 years of marriage. It was a marriage of unconditional love, romance and devotion, later an example to Bob and Verla's children and grandchildren.

In May of 1961 he made a personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, a turning point in his life. Bob's marriage to Verla and the redemption of his spirit set the course of his life, that of his family, and in ways, even his community.

Bob was the son of Lula and Roy Luscombe. At the edge of a pasture draw just south of Goltry known as the Home Place, Bob was raised by his grandparents, David and Cora Johnson.

He was preceded in death by David (Johnny) Johnson, who was like a brother to him, and by Wayne and Don Parker, his half-brothers, who were also Lula's sons.

When asked by one of his sons why he chose to become a farmer, Bob replied that it was the best way he knew to raise a family. Farming was a way of life for Bob, and the medium through which he cared for and taught his children and their families: Kim and Cathy Johnson of Helena; Rockford and Elizabeth Johnson of Chickasha; Tammy Johnson of Helena; and Jody and Janet Johnson of Lawrence, Kan. He loved the grandchildren that called him "Papa Bob," or just "Papa": Ryan, Levi and his wife Lacey, Curtis and his wife DeeDee, Kory, Micah, Kate, Emily and Meredith. In recent years he welcomed the love of two great-granddaughters, Lily and Ella. All of this family and his wife, Verla, survives him and brings a part of him to the world around them.

Bob's life was woven into family and the land around him, especially the Home Place. There he cared for cattle he treated like family as he sat still in the truck in the pasture while they gathered around him. Sometimes he led a parade of cows and their babies, "baby Johnsons," with hay and feed. Over the years, tractors and combines of all makes, literally held together by his mechanical ingenuity, ran hours in the fields. Sometimes his little daughter, Tammy, rode beside him into the night. With him she learned the skills that they loved to practice together in recent years. And always, always, there was coffee—in the cup in his hand as he drove to the Home Place, in a tarnished steel thermos even on the hottest of days, and in the morning waiting on Verla, coffee to be shared as they started their day in quiet.

Life was not just about the farm. Bob loved to celebrate his family's milestones. (And his own—he usually announced his birthday far in advance to everyone at family gatherings, with lots of laughter to follow.)

Bob was there for his kids, at livestock shows, parked at the end of the Helena football field, watching No. 21 in orange and black dribble the ball up the court, or driving across counties to follow the Riverside Quartet. Papa mellowed the way hard-working, sun-tanned farmers do when grandkids are born, in recent years watching them from his recliner at Christmas around the tree.

Bob disciplined his children to work hard and love deeply. He could show immense strength and tear-jerking tenderness, and above all, compassion. What people remember him doing tells how he lived: sewing wheat late into the night under a full Oklahoma moon; embracing a grandchild in his weathered arms, giant hands supporting them; throwing hay to a neighbor's cattle, his pick-up stopped in the snow; fixing brakes, air conditioners, toilets, street lights, or about anything else for just about anyone; giving out cash to strangers at Christmas who needed a hand; leading the Goltry Volunteer Fire Department into a wheat field to save a farmer's crop; checking on a widow after a terrible storm as the Goltry City Manager; roses (oh my, the roses!) and cards on every wedding anniversary ... the list could go on.

The day after Bob's passing, Verla asked a close friend, "What am I going to do without him?" The friend took her hands and replied, "What are we all going to do without him?" The loss is heavy, heavy beyond measure, but Bob is with his Heavenly Father.

In recent years Bob spent mornings drinking coffee with a roundtable of friends at Miss Vicki's Café on Main Street in the heart of Goltry. There he talked of grandkid adventures, of his children and wife, of his friends and neighbors. Bob's spirit lives in the lives of those he left behind, and the stories of his life will echo to wherever they are.

Service for Bob will be 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, at Timberlake Auditorium in Helena with Dr. Rockford Johnson and Rev. Dean Holt officiating. Burial will follow in Karoma Cemetery, east of Goltry, with arrangements by Lanman Funeral Home Inc. of Helena. Memorials may be given to the Bob Johnson Christmas Blessing Fund through the funeral home.

Viewing will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. (www.lanmanmemorials.com)

(Submitted by family)

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