Charlie Johnston, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, served in two wars, traveled all over the world, was married twice for a total of 72 years, and lived his Christian faith quietly, friends and family members say.
The Rev. Doug Gilreath, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Covington, said that about three weeks ago, as the new school year was beginning, church members were challenged to adopt a school and pray for its students.
“We had a special luncheon for everyone who was going to participate. Charlie and Dot showed up,” Gilreath said, referring to Mr. Johnston of Mansfield and his wife, Dorothy Hays “Dot” Johnston.
“I made the assumption they just came down for lunch, they just wanted to be part of the fellowship time, but Charlie and Dot together adopted the schools in Mansfield. After lunch, the two of them went to each of those schools and prayed for the students of those schools.”
Gilread called it an example of “strong, quiet faith, a deep commitment to the church, but they did so without any fanfare. … always encouraging, always had a kind word, never complained about anything at the church.”
Mr. Johnston’s daughter, Charlene Hall, told of her father’s sense of humor: “When he was 95 somebody said something about him looking good at 95 and he said, ‘Yeah, what’s left of me.'"
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Charles “Charlie” Johnston, 96, died of pneumonia Monday at Riverside Health Care Center, Covington.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the First United Methodist Church of Covington. The family will receive friends immediately afterward in Fellowship Hall. Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Born in 1915, Mr. Johnston was a native north side Atlantan.
“Back when my dad was growing up, right after graduating from Tech High, my dad and six other boys bought a car – that was the only way they could afford a car – and Lester Maddox was one of those boys,” Hall said of his father’s friendship with a man who would later be Georgia governor.
Mr. Johnston worked for Atlantic Steel before enlisting in what was then the U.S. Army Air Forces in early 1942, shortly after America’s entry into World War II. He attended officer’s candidate school, served as a bomber navigator and bombardier and saw action in the Second World War and the Korean War, flying out of the Aleutians and Okinawa, respectively.
During the Cold War, Mr. Johnston served in the Strategic Air Command and was navigator for the lead plane of the first mass trans-Atlantic flight of the B-47, one of the Air Force’s early long-range jet bombers.
A decorated officer, Mr. Johnston retired from the military after about 30 years of service. But he tired of retirement and after four or five months joined the state Department of Human Resources, working there for 10 years before retiring for good, Hall said.
Mr. Johnston and his first wife, Carol Quillian Johnston, were married 35 years when she died. He remarried at the age of 59 to Dorothy Hays Johnston, and they have been together 37 years. They traveled around the world; favorite places included the Holy Land, North Africa, South America and the Caribbean, Hall said. Mr. Johnston also enjoyed fishing and playing bridge.
In addition to Charlene Hall and Dorothy Hays Johnston, Mr. Johnston is survived by sons Harvey Tyler and Charles Marvin Johnston; stepchildren Mike Johnson and Becky Creech; 10 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.
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