Neil Carl Johnson

We will miss you Neil and were happy to have you as part of our extended family. God Bless.

Iknew Neil for many years and worked with him at the Satrellite Test Center in Sunnyvale. He was always willing to help me out with any thing I needed at work. He was a very generous person and I attended his wedding to Shirley and never saw him so happy. I have kept in touch via e mail but am so sorry to hear of his passing but I know he loved the Lord and is at peace with Shirley now.

Your friend always

I knew Neil first as "Uncle Neil" when Paul and I married in 1980. He was always so good to the Tidwell family. After John passed away, Neil began to court Shirley - the love of his life. When they married, he became "grandpa" to Christopher and Jackie - and truly doted on his "grandchildren". I love him for that and because he took such good care of Shirley. He will be missed.

I will miss the Sarg because he has been more than a friend over the years. Early in my life he was just this Air Force guy that came home every couple of years. It was only when I had finished college and was looking for a job that I really started to get to know him. He was stationed in Okalahoma city and I spent 3-4 weeks with him looking for a job.

At the time I knew nothing about him or his real talent. I remember him asking me if I like lasagna. Of course I answered. With that he made a deal that if I did the dishes he would do the cooking. The Sarg turned out to be what one could call a creative cook because he dirtied every pot and pan in the entire house. However, it turned out to be the best lasagna I have had every in my life.

The next day after we had recovered he commented that the lasagna was not his best dish and that his Ribs were much better. Since I could not believe that anything could be better than his lasagna, I agreed to do the dishes once again to find out what his ribs were like. The only difference was that as soon as he finished cooking with a pot or pan, I cleaned it ASAP. Yes, the ribs were better, and at the end of my stay I had found myself not only a distance cousin but a new close friend.

We kept in contact over the years and it wasn’t until the state of Texas had its own little depression that we got together again. My appraisal business just dried up and I was forced to move out of state to find a job. I ended up in sunny California looking for a job in San Jose which happened to be where the Sarg was living and working with Lockheed Air Space. At that time the Real Estate in California was increasing at 30%+ a year. It was quite a shock of coming from a depression in real estate to booming economy. Any way I agreed to rent a room from the Sarg and I stated to work once again as an appraiser.

We started off where we had left off in Okalahoma City. We shared the cost of food, I cleaned and the Sarg cooked. It was great. I remember one time, I think it was his birthday that we decided to have an ice cream party.. (Yes, just the two of us) We went out to the grocery store and bought about five different kinds of premium ice cream and about 10 different kinds of toppings. We made ourselves some of the best Sundays I have ever had.

After a year I moved up to Sacramento, but I continued to visit the Sarg at least once a month. I really did not like San Jose but I really enjoyed my time with the Sarg as much as any year in my life up until then.

I also remember when my folks would come out to visit me. We always had to go down the Sargs for at least a weekend. He would put on a spread of food that you could not believe. The sarg had a heart of Gold even though he was a little rough around the edges.

But even the little edges were sanded off when he got back with the love of his life. Shirley straightened out the Sarg’s life and I can’t remember seeing him happier.

I really miss him because he had become part of my life and he was the oldest of our generation. My father, mother, Aunt Bea, Uncle Mel and uncle John had all passed on and now it was just us young people left.

From what Denny said I guess I was the last one to talk to him before he passed away. In the weeks leading up to our last conversation he had been depressed over his situation and his quality of life. However, at this time he had gotten a hopeful report from one of his doctors and he seemed much happier about his future prospects.