Frank A. "Ace" Johnson

Frank Adrian "Ace" Johnson, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at age 91. Frank was born on February 19, 1925 in St. Charles, Illinois to Frank and Ruth Johnson. During World War II, he was a Petty Officer in the United States Navy and served as a flight engineer on a PBY seaplane, based in San Francisco. In 1948 he married the love of his life, Roberta Jean Scholl of Glen Ellen, Illinois, and in 1950 they moved to Hinesville, Arkansas, where he immediately fell in love with the natural beauty and culture of the Ozarks. Music was an important part of Frank's life. In his early years, he played drums and was in a Dixieland jazz band that played dances in and around Springdale. In 1963, he helped establish the Little Rock chapter of the Rackensack Folklore Society and hosted a musical gathering at his home after every monthly Rackensack meeting for nearly 50 years. He was known for his expertise on the gutbucket, but he also sang and played the mouth-bow and the jawbone of an ass. A dedicated conservationist and lover of animals, he served as President of the Little Rock Friends of the Zoo and was on the Board of Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbrier, Arkansas. When he wasn't working or volunteering, he spent his time camping in the Ozarks, on the Buffalo River in particular. Frank found a natural calling in industrial sales, combining his mechanical and technical skill with a talent for cultivating deep and abiding friendships and business relationships. He developed a successful career selling forklift trucks and managing complex installations of material handling systems at Bigelow Robinson Company, Shaw Material Handling (formerly C.R. Wood Co.) and Holly Equipment. He was known and respected throughout the Arkansas business community for his honesty, integrity and dependability. Against his own wishes, he retired at age 83 when his health began to decline. He was preceded in death by Roberta Johnson, his wife of 62 years. He missed her every day since her passing in 2009, and we are comforted knowing Frank and Bert are reunited for eternity. Frank is survived by five children, Christopher Johnson and wife Debra Dunlop Johnson, Jeffrey Johnson and his wife Betsy Johnson, Timothy Johnson and wife Natalie Johnson, Daniel Johnson and wife Judy Johnson, and Lisa Higgins and her husband Dudley Higgins; seven grandchildren – Cara Kearns, Elaine Carter, Jonathan Fields, Laura Fields, Jeremy Johnson, Jessica Amis, Erica Johnson, Joseph Higgins and Thomas Higgins; seven great-grandchildren, Kelly Carter, Frank Kearns, Anna Johnson, Connor Johnson, Dylan Fields, Leo Sanders and Eli Sanders. He is also survived by two brothers-in-law, Stewart "Scotty" Scholl of Little Rock and Lloyd Thorson of Washington, DC and two sisters-in-law, Margaret Graham of Willits, California and Virginia Buck of Sarasota, Florida. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, November 5, 2016 in the chapel of Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth, 5800 W. 12th St., Little Rock (501) 661-9111. Interment with Military Honors will follow in Pinecrest Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Frank's honor to Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary (http://www.elephantsanctuary.org). To sign the online guestbook, go to www.griffinleggetthealeyroth.com.