Kenneth Leon Johnson

Kenneth Leon Johnson was the youngest of ten children. He was born May 18, 1925, to Minnie Belle Killian and William O. Johnson in a log cabin in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He died in Boise, Idaho, on December 5, 2019.

Ken grew up helping with livestock and farm chores. He went to a one-room schoolhouse. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the Navy at the age of 17. He ended his service in Guam.

Ken came home and finished his schooling at Missouri State University with a B.A. degree in Journalism in 1945. He became a reporter for small town newspapers and later opened a drapery and blinds shop, making custom draperies. Ken went back to college, graduating with his master’s degree.

Survivors include his wife Eleanor, his daughter Ann Newell, 5 step-children, 26 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.