To his grandson, Roy Johnson represented a humble ideal of an America lost, a place and time where everyone knew your name.
To his daughter, he was a quiet and gentle man who always made time to listen and teach.
And to Annette Johnson, his wife of 63 years, he was a partner in the most literal sense: they raised two daughters together, yes, but they also worked side-by-side for a quarter century in a restaurant they opened soon after marrying.
Mr. Johnson left home at 17 to serve in World War II. He sailed around the Pacific Ocean as a store keeper third class on a provisioning ship, then returned to his native DeKalb County and got on with life. He married a girl he'd known since grammar school, and they soon produced a daughter.
After a brief stint at an auto plant that ended with layoffs, and with that first baby on the way, he needed an income. So he drew on his Navy cooking experience, and, with his new bride, opened a restaurant on a family parcel in south DeKalb.
On Monday, at age 84, Mr. Johnson died at home in Stockbridge, years after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Funeral services will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at Scot Ward's Green Meadow Chapel.
Wayne Wilson has fond memories of his grandparents' restaurant, Roy's Drive-In. They'd opened it in an old Dairy Queen near the intersection of Glenwood and Candler roads. It was the place for the dairymen, the insurance agent and the appliance guy to gather and chat while gobbling fried steak and chili dogs.
The restaurant offered "that last little bit of community," Mr. Wilson said. His grandfather told him stories about his own childhood on the family dairy farm. It sat on a dirt road near a spot where I-285 now looms. The family has traced their ancestry to Mr. Johnson's grandfather, who they believe homesteaded the land. As a teen, Mr. Johnson traveled as far as Vinings to deliver fresh milk. Besides his Navy service and some vacations, it was as far as he strayed from home.
One of Mr. Johnson's daughters, Sandra Bevins, said she and her sister Lynda Davidson, both of Atlanta, grew up surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins. Mr. Johnson had three brothers and two sisters, and, like him, they all remained in metro Atlanta. He had an abiding love for the outdoors, and purchased a cabin on Jackson Lake southeast of Atlanta. He also tinkered with antique clocks, acquiring nearly 100 of them and restoring them in the basement. She would join him there for hours, and he would mostly listen.
Mr. Johnson kept a low profile, cooking at the restaurant while his wife served the customers. "I think he just enjoyed listening," Mrs. Johnson said. "He certainly enjoyed people."
After his return from the war, she heard he was in the local drug store and she rushed there to meet him. He walked her home. Six months later, they married.
"He had a way of making everybody feel special, and he had a good sense of humor," Mrs. Johnson said, her voice wavering. "And I think those two things, everybody needs."
Additional survivors include Mr. Johnson's sister Lois Woodley, of Decatur; brother Harold Johnson, of McDonough; three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
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