James T. Johnson, 89, of Edgeley, ND, passed away Sunday, June 14, 2020 at St. Rose Care Center, LaMoure, ND.
Jim was born March 20, 1931 in Los Angeles, CA the third child of William R. and Bernadene (Kincannon) Johnson. He graduated from King School in CA in June of 1949. Jim joined the Air Force January 1950 and was honorably discharged after serving four years, the last ten months in combat zones during the Korean conflict. He was a flight mechanic and his awards include: United Nations medal, Korean Service medal, National Defense medal, Good Conduct medal, and Korean Government medal for service in Korea. Jim’s love of EVERYTHING AIRPLANE began very early on in life. While still in school he knew he wanted to fly but didn’t have the money to buy lessons, so he traded work (hard work) for flying lessons. Without looking up he could tell you just what airplane was flying overhead just by the sound. Because he found the love of his life working at Northrop (Aircraft Company) he thought he found someone to share that love with. Boy, was he surprised to find out Judie couldn’t tell one plane from another. He kept saying, “but you work in aircraft” but kept getting the same answer from me, “I do paper work, security work. I don’t have to know anything about the planes.” He never understood that.
Jim retired from Northrup Corporation in 1995 from the Flight Test Organization where he was manager of the Flight Test Support operations department. Throughout his 41 year career in aviation he was involved in the production, modification, maintenance and flying of military and civilian aircraft including the teaching of fighter aircraft maintenance in foreign countries. His hobbies were flying, building and restoring his own aircraft and the restoration of military aircraft for the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, California. While still employed by Northrop he was able to fly around the world twice, showing the different aircraft they made.
For many years he was a member of the Elks while living in California and later joined the American Legion and the Lions after moving to Edgeley in 1999.
He took over as chairman of the Edgeley airport and worked many hours every day to help build it up. Jim took many trips to Bismarck to insure we always got the money for improvements, one of which was the grass runway and fueling.
Jim had three children with his first wife and three step children with Judie. Jim and Judie were married in a small backyard wedding with all their dancing friends and work friends in attendance. They married June 10, 1995.
While at the burial of his mother-in-law (Vivian Ward) they decided that the right place for their retirement would be Edgeley. Jim just fell in love with North Dakota on that beautiful May day.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William R. Johnson and Bernadene Kincannon; his brother, Kenneth Johnson; sister, Arlene Renee Moulder; our daughter, Sally Bennett of Beverly Hills, CA; and his son, Charles Johnson of Lancaster, CA.
Jim is survived by the love of his life Judie; daughter, Kris (Ken) Berry of Lancaster, CA; grandchildren, Shannon Schoenfelder (Stefan), Jonathan James Martin, Dr. Jennifer Chrisman of Hermosa Beach, CA, Chloe Truhlar, Kevin (Tanya) Truhlar of Hawthorne, CA; and five great grandchildren, Logan and Toby Duncan, Oliver and Violet Levenson, and Dakota.
Jim was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Edgeley.
Graveside Service: 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 19, 2020 at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Edgeley, ND.