Extracted from The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Thursday, August 23, 2001

JAMES OLIVER JOHNSON

BENSON - Mr. James Oliver Johnson, age 91, of 201 N. Lincoln Street died Wednesday at his home.

Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Friday at Rose & Graham Funeral Home Chapel. Officiating will be Revs. Carole McCartney and Fred Johnson. Burial will follow in Roselawn Cemetery.

Mr. Johnson was born September 27, 1909 in Sampson County to the late Joseph A. and Ora Chester Lee Johnson, and grew up in Johnston County.

He was preceded in death by brothers, C. Astor Johnson and Ray Vaughn Johnson, and sisters, Jessie J. Creech and Lois J. Penny.

Mr. Johnson was a retail merchant on Main Street in Benson, having opened a grocery store with his brother, Astor. For a number of years, he was also a substitute rural mail carrier in the Benson area. Mr. Johnson was a member of the Benson Presbyterian Church.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mae J. Johnson; son and daughter-in-law, Max and Elizabeth Johnson of Cary; sister and brother-in-law, Lellon and Walton Creech of Fayetteville; and several nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends at Rose & Graham Funeral Home in Benson from 7 to 9PM Thursday. Flowers will be appreciated, or memorial contributions may be made to Benson Rescue Squad, PO Box 23, Benson, NC 27504, or to the Benson Presbyterian Church, 400 E. Hill Street, Benson, NC 27504.