Charles Gay Johnson

Sumter, SC…Colonel Charles Gay Johnson, USAF, Retired, age 98, beloved husband of the late Frances Marcella Freeman Johnson, died on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at Covenant Place.

Born in McCaysville, Georgia, he was the son of the late William Victor Johnson and Jessie Parker Arrowood. He was a graduate of Georgia Tech University, where he earned his Master’s Degree. Col. Johnson served his country in the US Air Force and retired after thirty-one years of dedicated service. While on active duty, he was a pilot during World War II and flew the P51 Mustang Aircraft and served in the European Theater in Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.  He received fifteen bronze oak leaf clusters and was a Purple Heart Recipient for the sacrifices he made during the war. Following his retirement from the Air Force, he taught school at Sumter High School for elevens years. He was a member of Alice Drive Baptist Church.

Surviving are; one grandson, David Charles “DJ" Johnson, Jr. and his fiancé Keri of Jackson Hole, WY; daughter-in-law, Myra Johnson Palmer of Atlanta, GA; close friend, Esther Powell of Sumter; three sisters, Katherine Gertrude Johnson Robinson of Nashville, Geraldine Farrar Johnson Butterfield of Laconia, NH, and Gretta Johnson Lloyd of Jefferson City, TN; his faithful caregivers from Quality Private Caregivers, Bettie Tindal, Samantha Tindal, Nikki Blackwell, and Tameka Blanding.

In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by his son, David Charles Johnson and his four brothers, Garland Johnson, William Guy Johnson, James Gurley Johnson, and Luther Gentry Johnson; and three sisters, Gladys Louisa Johnson Wimberly, Mary Grace Johnson Nichols, and Geneva Pauline Johnson Fry.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, May 3, 2019 at 10:00 am at the Alice Drive Baptist Church with Dr. Clay Smith and Dr. Ray Lloyd, Col. Johnson’s brother-in-law, officiating. Interment will follow with full military honors in the Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery.

The family will receive friends on Friday, prior to the service, from 9:30-10:00 am at Alice Drive Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Alice Drive Baptist Church, 1305 Loring Mill Road, Sumter, SC 29150.

You may go to www.bullockfuneralhome.com and sign the family's guest book.

The family has chosen Bullock Funeral Home of Sumter for the arrangements.

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