Mr. James Luther Johnson Sr.

February 23, 1932 - April 5, 2022

James Luther Johnson (Jim), 90, of Huntsville, Alabama, passed away on April 5 of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. He was born February 23, 1932, in Guntersville, Alabama. He grew up in northeast Alabama, attended Jackson County High School where he was quarterback of the football team, and lettered in basketball and baseball. After graduating high school, he joined the army and was deployed to Korea where he received the Purple Heart. Upon his discharge he returned to Alabama and attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, on the GI Bill. He was President of the Student Government Association at API and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, where he made lifelong friends. These friends and their children became his children’s friends, or more aptly, second families. He was well known for his practical jokes, and his magnetic personality, and he was loved by all who knew him. He remained an avid supporter of Auburn University all of his life, and he especially loved Auburn football. He was a devoted father and grandfather to his three children, Linda Johnson Stone (Jeff), Mary Elizabeth Johnson (Mary Sievert), and James Luther Johnson Jr. (Kathleen), and his five grandchildren, Callie Stone Nash (Wilson), Walton Stone (Kirstin), Molly Stone Curtis (Spencer), James Luther Johnson III and Audrey Rose Johnson. He had a love of life, a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. He was full of energy and never one to sit still – up at the crack of dawn on family vacations so as not to miss anything. He took time to teach what he knew about nature and the outdoors – a pair of binoculars at the ready to see wildlife, a canoe prepared for river adventures, and summers spent on the lake with a house full of family and friends. He was a Boy Scout troop leader and a Little League coach. He supported and cheered for his children and grandchildren at every choral and piano concert, track meet, sporting event and graduation. He had a successful career with LG Balfour Company and pursued a variety of businesses later in life. He loved making a deal – the process perhaps more than the deal itself. It was the opportunity to meet people, understand their businesses, and make new friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Mary Nell Loyd and Luther Baird Johnson and his two brothers, Jackson Edmond Johnson and Eugene Loyd Johnson. He is survived by his three children and five grandchildren, as well as five great grandchildren, Ann Harper, Henry Luther and Elizabeth Nelson Nash, Hunt Parsons and William Braden Stone. He is also survived by his two nieces Jennie Johnson Staub (Jay) and Sherry Johnson, as well as several cousins. A graveside service will be held on Saturday, April 9 at 1 pm at Wimberly Cemetery in Stevenson, Alabama. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Auburn University Student Success Fund (aucares.auburn.edu) or to the charity of your choice.