Michael Johnson

Retired Army veteran and patriot, Michael Johnson, passed away, unexpectedly, July 10th at Baptist Hospital. Michael was a specialized military analyst for the greater part of his 20 plus years military career. He served deployments in Iraq, Kuwait, Korea and Germany. He was awarded many medals, ribbons, and honors to include, but not limited to: Valorous Unit Award, Saudi Arabia/Kuwait Liberation Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, South West Asia Bronze Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Korean Defense Medal. He earned his bachelors degree in Business Administration from a small, private college in California where he met Kiyy, his wife of more than 25 years. He soon discovered that she was the Yin to his Yang. Soon after marriage, they celebrated the joyful arrival of their son John. Michael was also the playful grandfather of three mischievous grandsons, John Jr., Julian and Jonah (twins) all under the age of six. Michael grew up in rural California with his family. He believed honest work was good work regardless of how well it paid . Michael worked in the fields pitching watermelons and doing charity work with his mom as a high schooler. As a college student working in Silicon valley for a start-up tech company, he made a nice living while finishing his degree. His dad taught him his love of cars and how to fix things. Michael could fix almost anything. He once playfully chastised his wife, when, in an effort to save him the trouble of doing the work himself, called a mechanic for a car repair. Michael loved to learn and be helpful. Before his retirement, he completed all the course work for his real estate license and took classes in auto mechanics and physics at a Texas community college just for the fun of it.

He had a terrific talent for fixing cars. Friends would often call on him to fix or build things and he would never charge a fee for his labor or time.
Michael was an avid reader whose favorite authors included Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler. He could often be found curled up on the sofa reading a good book. Other favorite activities were hunting, fishing, and riding his motorcycle. He had lasting memories of his ride to Sturgis for the famous motorcycle gathering. Michael also enjoyed simply sitting on the porch with a beer or glass of wine while chatting with Kiyy, friends and neighbors.

Michael leaves behind his loving wife, son, daughter-in-law, grandsons, brother Frank, sister Monique and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends to mourn his early departure. Michael was preceded in death by his parents and a brother and sister.