Don Johnson

Don Johnson, age 86, long-time Coleman resident, died Sunday, May 7, 2016 at Coleman County Medical Center. Funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, in the First United Methodist Church, 500 W. Liveoak, Coleman, with Rev. Wayne Lewis, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in the Coleman Cemetery under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.

Don was born to Delma and Tinia Trewitt Johnson November 22, 1930 on the family farm near Brady in McCulloch County. He was a middle child with two older sisters, Dela Marie and Jean, an older brother, Pat, and a younger brother, Cecil Brian. In 1940 the Johnsons moved to Coleman where they owned and operated the county’s only John Deere Implement dealership. Don entered the third grade in South Ward, and graduated from Coleman High School. He was in the Class of 1949, but contracted polio at the beginning of his senior year, spending many weeks in an iron lung in an Abilene hospital. He then graduated with the Class of 1950. Following high school, he entered Texas Tech in Lubbock, and completed his degree in accounting in three years, becoming a Certified Public Accountant.

In August 1953 he married Mary Fran Stevens, his longtime high school sweetheart. They settled in Midland where Don took a job with the El Paso Natural Gas Company. In 1957, Don decided to pursue a law degree, and enrolled in Baylor Law School, where he worked part-time in the university business office. Following his graduation from law school, he returned to Coleman and accepted a position in the office of Hal Woodward. When Hal Woodward was appointed a federal district judge, Don formed a partnership with Ross Jones, and eventually Steve Autry, calling the firm Johnson, Jones and Autry. On June 14, 1980, Mary Fran preceded him in death. He later married Marian Lanham Holdridge and they have celebrated almost 36 years of marriage.

Don was actively involved in the Coleman community, serving on various boards throughout the years, including the Coleman County Telephone Co-op, the Coleman County Electrical Co-op, and as a director of First Coleman National Bank. He was serving as the Chairman of the hospital board when the new wing of the hospital was built. He served as a Trustee for the First United Methodist Church, where he was a member for many years. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and served as the County Chairman of the Democratic Party. In the 1970’s he was named Citizen of the Year for Coleman.

Survivors include his wife, Marian Johnson of Coleman; four children, Judy Burris and husband Sam of Huntsville, Jane Greer and husband Larry of Marble Falls, Joseph Johnson and wife Janet of Coleman, Joan Ethridge and husband Todd of Coleman; a step-son, Tim Holdridge and wife Kate of San Angelo; 16 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; one brother, Cecil Johnson and wife Herma Jean of Coleman; several nieces and nephews; and friend and caretaker, Juanita Pounds.

Memorials may be made to the Franklin Center, P. O. Box 766, Coleman, Texas 76834, First United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 852 or the Coleman High School Alumni Scholarship Fund, P. O. Box 958, Coleman, Texas 76834.

Please offer condolences to the family at www.livingmemorials.com.