George Willard Johnson

1921 - 2022

George Willard Johnson, age 100, joined his family and friends in Heaven on Wednesday, Jan. 26 (2022). He spent his final moments on earth on the family farm that he and his sweet wife bought in 1948.
He married the love of his life, Juanita Evelyn Foster, of Myrtle on April 18, 1942. They were together until she passed on July 26, 1988.
George was a Purple Heart recipient, having been wounded on the island of Peleliu during World War II. He served in the 321st Infantry, Company F, attaining the rank of Technical Sergeant.
George was a proud member of the Iron Stob Chapel for approximately 70 years, serving as board member and treasurer for many years. He also used his carpentry talents to help build the addition to the church in the early 1970s. He also proudly served on the Bergman School Board, where his two daughters graduated. George was a graduate of Hopewell High School, before it merged with Bergman.
George was born south of Yellville on Nov. 28, 1921. His parents were Alfred Augustus (Gus) Johnson and Anna Belle (Reid) Johnson. The family moved to the Hopewell community in Boone County, during the 1930s.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Juanita Evelyn (Foster) Johnson; his parents, Gus and Anna Belle Johnson; his stepmother, Jessie Pearl Johnson; his sister, Wilma Larue (Johnson) Brown (Charlie Brown); his sister, Anna Sue (Johnson) Pruitt (Roy Pruitt); his niece/adopted sister, Anna Charlene (Johnson) Blair (Ed Blair); and his son-in-law, Joe Dale Grinder.
George is survived by two daughters, Shirley Louise (Johnson) Renfroe (Paul Renfroe) and Mary Helen (Johnson) Grinder; grandchildren, Stephanie Jo (Grinder) Hunt (Chris Hunt), Tracie Leann (Grinder) Phillips (Todd Phillips) and Eric Dale Grinder (Ashley Howard Grinder); great-grandchildren, Taylor Evelyn (Campbell) Young (James Young), Jacob Lee Campbell (Hannah Fields), Hailey, Ella, and Elijah Phillips, and Matthew, Keith and Emmitt Grinder; and great-great-grandchildren, Easton and Beckham Young.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at Coffman Funeral Home with the Reverend Dale Hale and the Reverend Mike Moore officiating. Burial will follow at Hopewell Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, at the funeral home.
Pallbearers are Ron Wright, Chris Hunt, Jacob Campbell, James Young, Rob Slape and Austin Williams.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of George's friends and neighbors, whom he loved greatly.
Lastly, we want to send a great big thank you to all the wonderful people from Legacy Hospice, who were absolutely our life savers. We encourage everyone to check them out. They offer much more than brief end of life care.
Online condolences can be left at www.coffmanfh.com .