Source: http://www.hixsonbrothers.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1545792

George Martin “Johnny” Johnson, Jr.
November 26, 1926 - March 18, 2015

Funeral services celebrating the life of George Martin “Johnny” Johnson, Jr. will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 21, 2015, in The Chapel of Hixson Brothers, Alexandria, with Reverend Justin Simmons officiating. Burial will follow in Alexandria Memorial Gardens.

Visitation will be observed on Friday at the funeral home from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and resume on Saturday from 1:00 p.m. until the time of service.

Pallbearers honored to serve will be Marc Johnson, Sean Johnson, Levi Stanford, Jordan Thorne, Kristopher Johnson and Micah Lonigro. Honorary pallbearers are Sam Poole, William McInnis, Chayney Lyles and Charles Ray Whittington.

George Martin “Johnny” Johnson, Jr., age 88, passed from his earthly life on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Born November 26, 1926 in Forest Hill, he was the tenth of thirteen children of George Martin Johnson, Sr. and Gertrude Dunn Johnson. He graduated from Forest Hill High School and attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston and Louisiana College in Pineville.

George served his country in the Navy Seabees from 1944 to 1946, where he was stationed in the South Pacific. In August of 1946, he married Vera Lee Poole.

Beginning his career as a Nurseryman in 1949, he pioneered the business of nursery growers in the Forest Hill area. He first worked with his father-in-law, Murphy Poole, at Poole Brothers Nursery in Lecompte. He was a charter member of the Louisiana Association of Nurserymen and served as Board Member, Vice President, and in 1956 became President. He was also instrumental in forming the Central Louisiana Nursery Association.

Founder and owner of George Johnson Nursery from 1970 to 2012, he received the Nurseryman of the Year award in 1982 and was elected to “Who's Who in the Nursery Industry” in 1996. He joined the Lecompte Rotary Club in 1958, serving as its President and receiving the Paul Harris Fellow Designation. George served on the Board of the Bank of Lecompte for over ten years and was a Board Member for the Southern Forest Heritage Museum. He was also a member of South Rapides Parish Service Club. George was a long-time active member of the Church of Christ in Glenmora and served the church in the Office of Elder.

A first class fisherman, he spent many an evening after work at the local lakes, and weekends hunting in the woods around Forest Hill. He also had the good fortune to have traveled in several foreign countries and many of the fifty states.

He loved and enjoyed his large family consisting of five children, all of whom survived him. Four sons, Murphy and friend, Terry Thibodeaux, George and wife, Debbie, Robert and wife, Vickie, Randall and wife, Lisa; one daughter, Kayla Stanford and husband, Dwight; twelve grandchildren, Shane Johnson, Marc Johnson, Sean Johnson, Chadwyck Johnson, Lindsey Treadway, Kristopher Johnson, Lauren Lambert, Jordan Thorne, Tyler Johnson, Micah Lonigro, Cameron Johnson, Levi Stanford; seven great grandchildren and three sisters, Georgia Jones, Juanita Lyles, and Margie Hearn.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in the memory of George Johnson be made to: The Glenmora Church of Christ, PO Box 367, Glenmora, LA, 71433