Memorials › Joe Brown Johnson
Joe Brown Johnson
8 Mar 1901 – 31 Dec 1976
| Birth | 8 Mar 1901 |
| Death | 31 Dec 1976 |
| Cemetery | Oak Hill Cemetery Whitewright , Fannin County , Texas , USA |
| Added by | Mike Tankersley on 15 Oct 2010 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60164907 |
Bio
The Whitewright Sun, Whitewright, Texas, Thursday, January 6, 1977, Page 1 Death Claims Longtime Businessman Services for prominent local businessman, Joe Johnson, were held Sunday at 2 p.m. in Earnheart Funeral Chapel. He died at his home in Whitewright of a heart attack Friday, Dec. 31, 1976, at 5 p.m. Burial was at Oak Hill cemetery. Mr. Johnson (known to young and old as Joe) was a native of Whitewright having been born here March 8, 1901. His parents were Robert Lee Johnson and Fannie Gist Johnson. Graduating from Whitewright high school in 1919, he pursued his natural talent for electricity by majoring in electrical engineering at Texas A.&M. University where he was a member of the Cadet Corp. He returned home to join his father in a watch repair and jewelry business and as the years passed, gradually the business was combined with electric appliances and repairs. Many families in Whitewright bought their first electric "ice box" from him with his assurance that he serviced everything he sold. With the development of rural electrification his battery radio sales became electric radios and then TV's. When he was a young man, he personally made and installed at his home the first radio set ever used in this territory. The Whitewright Sun carried the following article on Aug. 24, 1922: "Sunday's Dallas Morning News carried a picture of Joe Johnson and his radio station. Joe looked natural in the picture and it gave a good view of his radio equipment. He has been a wireless enthusiast for several years and was one of the first young men in Texas to erect a station. He has a good plant and sometimes picks up messages from stations as far away as New Jersey." He married Mabel Ruth Moore of Bells in Sherman on Aug. 21, 1925. He has one son, David, of Whitewright and a daughter, Mrs. Anna Ruth Pritchard of Bells. Three grandchildren, Casey Pritchard of Bells, Lee Pritchard of Texas A.&M. and Julie Johnson of Whitewright, and one sister Mrs. A. B. Hemphill of Dallas also survive. Mr. Johnson was a deacon in the First Baptist church and was a Paul Harris Fellow in the Rotary club. He was a friend to all ages and always had time to help with your problem if you stopped by the store. He usually had a project going to interest most any age-like building an electric post hole digger, model steam engine and you were always welcome to look over his shoulder while he repaired your radio, TV, etc. And if you were a young boy and really showed an interest in electronics, he would take time to explain as he worked. Many boys who grew up in Whitewright knew where to come for help on projects. His last large project was an electric motorcycle that he and his grandson, Casey Pritchard, completed. KXII television did a special feature story of the two of them. Mr. Johnson combined his appliance business with real estate property and livestock farming interests. He was a believer in soil conservation and cooperated with the Department of Agriculture building a large water-shed lake on his property. He was a believer in the free enterprise system and the good life found in a small town.
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