Remembering our father, Les Johnson

Our dear father, Leslie James Johnson Jr , passed peacefully with family near his side in his

residence in San Antonio, TX on September 19, 2018 at the age of 90. He was lovingly known as

Mr. Les or Chief by his friends. Once he became a grandfather, we called him Pop.

Our father was born in Ocala, Florida on March 14th, 1928. A child of the depression era, he

learned at an early age the value of education and hard work. He lost his father as a young man

which placed him in a caretaker role for his family, especially for his mother. Having spent his

childhood on the Georgia and Florida coasts, he developed a profound love of the ocean and

the great outdoors. He enjoyed spending time deep sea fishing, boating and became quite

good at barefoot water skiing. His pride and joy was the "big one" trophy. The mythical sailfish

that he fought long and hard to catch always hung proudly on his office wall.

At the age of 18 he enlisted in the Army, and served with

the First Cavalry Division in Japan. An avid athlete, he played football while in the

Army, but suffered a broken ankle on the field dashing his hopes of walking on to play football

at the University of Florida where he studied under the GI bill. He graduated with honors

earning a degree in Forestry and was also a gifted writer.

As a young forester, he met our mother, Barbara "Bobbi" Heisey, a flight attendant with

National Airlines, who grew up in Rehrersburg, Pennsylvania. They eventually relocated from

Florida to Monticello, Mississippi when the opportunity arose to scout a new location for the St

Regis paper mill. Once the mill was up and running, Dad was determined to start a company of

his own and founded Deltawood in 1966. He led a successful business and continued to grow

his family at their homestead in Hillview Acres, an idyllic place for children and later

grandchildren to enjoy. An accomplished entrepreneur and mentor, he founded and partnered

in other businesses including Howard Motors, Franklin Timber Company and Agreaux

Organics.

Dad spent many evenings playing tennis with friends, and cooking out courtside. It always

made us happy to see the lights on around the tennis court, smell the deer sausage from the

grill, and hear people laughing and having a great time. His love of tennis extended to his

support of the annual Atwood tennis festival.

There is nothing Pop loved more than spending time with his children, grandchildren, and his

dogs in the peaceful pine forest of "the back 40". He instilled a love and respect of nature in

all of us. He created a wonderland of trails for 4 wheelin' and go-cartin' and a thriving pond full

of bass, brim and catfish for row boating and fishing. As long as he was able, he took his dog

China out for a ride on the polaris to check on the land that was so important to him. Always a

maker of things, he built everything from microwaves to a personal computer. He made his

own yogurt, beer and wine from the muscadine grapes that he grew. His love of plants meant

the end of our swimming pool when he decided to convert it to a greenhouse, but we didn't

mind because he cultivated most notably pineapples, kumquats and passionfruit using the

organic fertilizer that he developed at Agreaux Organics. There was always a strange and

delicious new fruit or vegetable growing in his magical garden.

Just as growing his own food was a personal passion, so was natural health and wellness. A

self taught "medicine man", he extended his knowledge and compassion to his friends and

family. It was not uncommon to receive a bottle of supplements in a Christmas stocking. Our

father was devoted to God and the church. He truly loved being a part of the congregation of

the United Methodist church and especially enjoyed participating in the adult bible study.

We will always remember our loving, caring father as a quiet leader who was strongly rooted

in the community, and devoted to family, friends, and the church.

A Fallen Limb

"A limb has fallen from the family tree that says,

Grieve not for me,

remember the best times, the laughter the song,

the good life I lived while I was strong…"

Author unknown

Les was preceded in death by his father Leslie James Johnson Sr., his mother, Mattie (Parrish) Johnson,

his sisters, Edith and Barbara, and niece Melissa. Les was the beloved husband for 54 years of Barbara

and dear father of Jennifer, Mandy, Laurie, and Marcus and; adored "Pop" to his 7 grandchildren, Alex,

Ian, Isabelle, Gayton, Cile, Ethan and Ella. He was also cherished Uncle "Bubba" of Erin, Kurt, Dale and

Lianne.

All friends are welcome to attend a celebration of life and memorial service on Saturday,

November 24th at 1:00pm. As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be sent

to The United Methodist Church. For service details, please see the Wilson Funeral Home

website.