Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with the Rev. Jeff Symonds officiating. Burial will be in Portales Cemetery.
John Littleton Johnson was born April 25, 1915, to Georgia and J. E. Johnson on a ranch near the Pecos River in DeBaca County, where his father was ranch foreman for the late Lee Bivens.
John L. died March 5, 2009, at the veterans home in Amarillo, Texas. He was a World War II survivor of the Bataan death march. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942, and liberated in 1945 surviving the death march and slave labor in the Japanese mines. He was the oldest living member of Portales American Legion Post No. 31, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was awarded the Purple Heart medal, as well as several other medals for his service to his country. John L. was a lifelong resident of Portales, working for the Arrow Gas Co. as a propane delivery driver for many years. He collected and restored antique autos and was a member of numerous antique car clubs in New Mexico and Texas.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Georgia Johnson Phillips.
The surviving family would like to give a special thank you for the respectful, loving care that John L. received at the Thomas E. Creek Veterans Administration Hospital and Community Life Center of Amarillo.
Survivors include a brother, J.E. Johnson of Clovis; two nephews, Robert Phillips of Amarillo and John Phillips of Breckenridge, Texas; and two nieces, Julia Shaw of Stratford, Ontario, and Petra Cantrell of Las Vegas.
Pallbearers will be members of American Legion Post No. 31. Honorary pallbearers will be Irvin Butler along with all other members of local veterans organizations.
Amarillo Globe-News, March 6, 2009
Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with the Rev. Jeff Symonds officiating. Burial will be in Portales Cemetery.
John Littleton Johnson was born April 25, 1915, to Georgia and J. E. Johnson on a ranch near the Pecos River in DeBaca County, where his father was ranch foreman for the late Lee Bivens.
John L. died March 5, 2009, at the veterans home in Amarillo, Texas. He was a World War II survivor of the Bataan death march. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942, and liberated in 1945 surviving the death march and slave labor in the Japanese mines. He was the oldest living member of Portales American Legion Post No. 31, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was awarded the Purple Heart medal, as well as several other medals for his service to his country. John L. was a lifelong resident of Portales, working for the Arrow Gas Co. as a propane delivery driver for many years. He collected and restored antique autos and was a member of numerous antique car clubs in New Mexico and Texas.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Georgia Johnson Phillips.
The surviving family would like to give a special thank you for the respectful, loving care that John L. received at the Thomas E. Creek Veterans Administration Hospital and Community Life Center of Amarillo.
Survivors include a brother, J.E. Johnson of Clovis; two nephews, Robert Phillips of Amarillo and John Phillips of Breckenridge, Texas; and two nieces, Julia Shaw of Stratford, Ontario, and Petra Cantrell of Las Vegas.
Pallbearers will be members of American Legion Post No. 31. Honorary pallbearers will be Irvin Butler along with all other members of local veterans organizations.
Amarillo Globe-News, March 6, 2009
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