James Carl Johnson

James "Jim" Johnson, of Christiana, Tennessee, passed away at home on March 13, 2026. He was 82.

Born May 20, 1943, in Youngstown, Ohio, to Carl and Katherine Johnson, Jim graduated from Poland Seminary High School in Poland, Ohio, in 1961. He earned his bachelor's degree from Kent State University in 1965. Soon after, he joined Firestone as a chemist. He stayed with Firestone/Bridgestone his entire career. In 1977, he accepted a role managing a lab at Bridgestone's La Vergne, Tennessee location and moved with his family - wife Margaret Johnson and daughter Heather Johnson -to Smyrna. He worked at Bridgestone until his retirement in the late 1990s.

Jim was quiet, thoughtful, dependable, and pragmatic. He was a good father. He liked nature and the outdoors. He took his daughter on adventures to hunt rabbits with the family's beagle, walk in the woods, and fish, usually in Percy Priest Lake. He taught her how to ride a bike and drive a stick. He was patient.

Around 1986, he bought property in Christiana, Tennessee. He renovated what was then the shell of an old farmhouse almost entirely on his own. A few years later, he married Deborah (Harmon) Johnson. Together, they built a new home on that property and lived there together until their divorce in 2002. He lived there for the rest of his life.

He is survived by his daughter, Heather R. Johnson, of Oakland, California; and a cousin, Robert Machin, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

A celebration of life will be held at Smith Family's Event Center on Sunday, March 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the following organizations:

Best Friends Animal Society

Beagle Freedom Project

TennGreen Land Conservancy