Tahlequah - Johnnie Doyle Howerton was born on December 30, 1920 in Noel, Missouri to John Wesley and Cora Catherine (Oakes) Howerton and passed away on Sunday, April 1, 2012 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday April 5, 2012 in the Cookson United Methodist Church in Cookson, OK. Interment will follow in the Cookson-Proctor Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Hart Funeral Home. Johnnie married Gwen Ellen Powers on February 24, 1942 in Lanagan, Missouri. To this union four children were born. He embraced life, playing basketball and baseball throughout his high school days, hunting and fishing and watching sports. He was proud that he had an opportunity to try out for a major league baseball team after graduation from high school but broke his arm the day before the try-outs and never got another chance. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and proudly served his country during World War II in the South Pacific with the First Cavalry Division, 44th Tank Battalion. He was a member of General MacArthur's Flying Column that liberated 3,700 internees at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila on 3 February 1945. He served in New Guinea, Leyete, Luzon, and the Philippines. He drove a gasoline truck to the front lines. Johnny returned home from the Army in 1945 at the end of the war and with the help of the GI Bill began training as a meat cutter with the Kroger grocery company. His career was in the grocery business for over 30 years and he loved it. He was a meat cutter, a grocery store owner, a grocery store manager and a supervisor for IGA and Fleming Foods. He retired in 1982 and launched a new career…full time fisherman. He loved this second career more than the first. He enjoyed hundreds of hours of fishing the beautiful waters of Lake Tenkiller and enjoying his home at Cookson. He was a member and served as a Deacon in the Cookson United Methodist Church, was instrumental in the development of the Tenkiller Area Community Organization (TACO) and the TACO building, the fire department, and worked on many Cookson Jubilees for the development of the community. He and his wife moved to Broken Arrow, OK in 2002. In June of 2011 Johnnie was honored by the Oklahoma Honor Flight Foundation and was treated to a trip to Washington, D.C. to see the World War II Monument. Johnnie attended the Broken Arrow Adult Day Center for four years. He loved going there and enjoyed the wonderful people and games. In September 2011 he moved to Saint Simeons Episcopal Home in Tulsa. He loved it there because of the kind and caring staff, not to mention the good food. During his 91 years of life Johnnie lived in Noel, MO, Joplin, MO, Lamar, MO, Pryor, OK, Ft. Smith AR, Cookson, OK, Broken Arrow, OK, and Tulsa, OK. Johnnie was preceded in death by his wife and parents; son, Frankie Gene Howerton; daughter, Sandra Lea Ellison; three brothers, Ozro, Charlie, and Claudie Howerton; two sisters, Mary Louise Miller and Virginia Perkins. He is survived by daughters Donna Kay Short of Broken Arrow, OK and Steva Ann Guthrie and husband John of Alma, AR; seven grandchildren, Johnny Ellison of Cookson, OK, Billy Ellison of Lincoln, AR, Tris Chew of Tahlequah, OK, Robert Short of Broken Arrow, OK, Rian Short of Broken Arrow, OK, Robin Wood of Van Buren, AR, Erin Mata of Alma, AR; 24 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; many nieces nephews, cousins; and a host of friends and loved ones.