Earl Nicholas Johnson

On a cold stormy night, February 20, 1936, in Avoca, Minnesota a doctor followed the snowplow to the home of Raymond and Gertrude Johnson where a new baby was about to be born. Earl Nicholas Johnson had made his appearance to the world and life would never be the same. In three months, he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Because of the recession, he moved to many different houses, finally settling down on 10th Street. His father was drafted into the army and at the age of seven years old Earl became the man of the house. His father returned from the war in November 1945. They spent Christmas of '45 in Wyrock, Minnesota where they purchased a general store. He started his 10th birthday in a one room schoolhouse that had eight classes: first through eighth grade. There were 24 students. Then he graduated to the big school of Fulda, Minnesota where he was a star right guard for both defense and offense on the football team. He was also a track star where he ran the mile for the track team. He graduated high school June 4, 1954, and by June 8th he was in the Navy. Boot camp was in San Diego, California. He then went to Mare Island, California, where he met Carol Colbert. He made West-Pac going through the western Pacific on the USS Algol aka 54 before finally letting Carol catch him on May 13, 1957. He made another West-Pac patrol on USS Preston DD 795 destroyer. On February 24, 1958, his oldest child was born, James Russell. Following a transfer from the West Coast to the East Coast in September 1959 he started his submarine service on the USS Jalleo 368. He left the Jalleo in December 1960 transferred to the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN 600 in May 1961 just after Steven Ray was born on April 10. January 1964, he went to Dam Neck, Virginia where he was an instructor for future submarine personnel on fire control systems to shoot missiles at our adversaries. Patricia Kay was born on May 11, 1964. In February 1968 he was transferred to Groton, Connecticut on the USS BN Sam Houston 609. In May 1970 he was transferred to USS Sam Rayburn SSBN 635 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In September 1972, he was transferred to the USS Will Rogers SSBN 659. During that time on SSBN submarines he made 13 war patrols along with many other operations. Finally in December 1974 he transferred to fleet reserves and his time with active duty was done. After bouncing around in various jobs and positions, he and Carol landed in Thaxton Mississippi. He was a technician for GE, General Electric medical division, that worked on CTs, MRIs, x-rays, etc., north of Highway 82 in Mississippi to the state line, including east and west to the state lines. He worked from home while commuting to the home office in Memphis, Tennessee as needed. After having the kids on the school bus, Tressa, his granddaughter, got him to take her to Philadelphia Baptist Church. She then convinced Earl to join the church where he accepted the Lord on March 8, 1998. After accepting the Lord, he made more than 30 mission trips around the world, while Martha Jane always picked on him. Survivors include his wife, Carol, his children, Jim, Steve and Joyce, Patricia and Chris, his 27 grandchildren and great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren. Earl was preceded in death by his four deceased angels: two children one grandchild and one great grandchild. Services will be held on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at 3PM at Tutor Memorial Funeral Home in Pontotoc with visitation beginning at 2PM.