Jesse Roy Johnson Jr.

Jesse Roy Johnson Jr., 86, passed away in Nashville, Tenn., March 3, 2012. He was born on Oct. 26, 1925 in Lockesburg, Ark., the son of Lee Ethel Johnson and Jesse Roy Johnson Sr. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Joan Root Johnson; children, Steve Johnson and wife, Carla of Nashville, Tenn. and Frances Ann Walker and husband, John of Ashburn, Va.; one sister, Wilma Lee Jewkes and husband Tom of De Queen, Ark.; and four grandchildren, Jesse Johnson, Joanna Johnson, John Robert Walker, Rebecca Towery and husband Jason; and one great-grandchild, Ethan Towery. A retired Foreign Service officer, J.R worked his way up from a rural farm in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in southwest Arkansas. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps. He was the first in his family to obtain a college degree, graduating in 1955 with a masters in agriculture from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He worked as a teacher, feed mill manager, farm corporation manager, and farm loan banking officer, before he began his career with the U.S. State Department, Agency for International Development, as a Food for Peace officer. In a bold step, in 1963 J.R. moved his family from Arkansas to Washington, D.C. and then on to La Paz, Bolivia, which led to many invigorating and educational experiences for the family. In 1966, the family began a 4-year tour in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From the Amazon Basin to Mount Illimani above the Altiplano in Bolivia and to the beaches of the Dominican Republic, his family shared an exciting six-year adventure. He retired from the State Department in Washington, D.C. living in Arlington, Va. before moving to Nashville, Tenn. to be closer to his son's family. Private memorial services are planned for the summer. Interment will be held at a later date.