James Johnston

James Powell Johnston of Enid, Oklahoma, was born on Oct. 15, 1929, in Independence, Missouri, to parents Richard Johnston and Jewel Featherstone Johnston. On July 27, 1950, James married Wanda Jean Crenshaw in Garnett, Kansas. When he met Wanda, he said, “She had me from hello,” and for 64 years they were the loves of each other’s lives.

At the age of 21, James accepted his Lord Jesus Christ and loved and served him faithfully on this earth until his death Tuesday, July 29, 2014, at the age of 84 at Bass Pavilion in Enid, Oklahoma. Now his faith has become sight, worshipping his Lord Jesus Christ forever in heaven and looking after those he left behind here on Earth.

James served as a metal lather for Walters Plastering Co. in Kansas City, Missouri, for five years, and then served in the 840th Engineer Aviation Battalion Company A during the Korean War, where he received the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars and the UN Service Medal. After returning from the war, James worked as an engineer for the Southern Railroad in both Memphis, Tennessee, and Sheffield, Alabama, for more than 32 years. In 1987, James retired from the railroad and, a few years later, moved his family from Florence, Alabama, to Enid, Oklahoma.

James is preceded in death by his mother, Jewel Johnston; father, Richard Johnston; sisters Virginia Johnson, Dora Wilson, Lee Friesz, and Faye Present; and children Marilynn Yvonne Drueke, James Powell, Timothy Gene, and Teresa Mildred Johnston.

Surviving family members include his wife, Wanda Jean Johnston of the home; daughter, Debbie Wilcox of Enid, Oklahoma; daughter, Jamie Denny and her husband Dale of Enid, Oklahoma; sisters, Mary Warren, Jeannie Robinson and her husband Andy, Frankie McCollum and her husband Gerald, all from Independence, Missouri; and brother Richard Johnston and his wife Juanita from Grain Valley, Missouri. Surviving grandchildren include Joseph Drueke and his wife Amanda and James’ great grandchildren Lahna, Lilly, and Dason Drueke from Lawton, Oklahoma; Sabrina Killian and her husband Lee of Kansas City, Kansas; Kayla Denny of Louisville, Kentucky; and Corey Denny of Enid, Oklahoma.

A public viewing with the family will be held at Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home 2-4 p.m. Sunday, August 3, 2014. Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday, August 4, 2014, at Emmanuel Baptist Church, with Pastors Wade Burleson and Joseph Drueke officiating. A graveside service with United States Army military rites will be 3 p.m. at Olivet Cemetery in Perkins, Oklahoma (S. Sangre Rd.).

Memorials may be made to Emmanuel Baptist Church of Enid’s Project4Worship building project in James’ memory. Other arrangements are by Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home.

(Submitted by family)