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JOHNSON -- Paul Tefteller Johnson, 72, died on Wednesday, January 25, 2006, after a valiant 3 1/2 year battle with acute myeloid leukemia and related complications. He was born September 5, 1933, in Pecos, TX to Robert Hersel Johnson and Leah Sikes Johnson. He grew up in Arizona and Texas and graduated from high school in Rankin, TX. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Dairy Industry from Texas Technological College in 1957. On June 17, 1955, he married Mary Louise Anderson, whom he had known since they were children. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last June. Paul worked from an early age, selling newspapers as a boy in Arizona; washing dishes in a Rankin cafe and loading bags of feed, bales of hay, and bags of wool at the Rankin woolhouse as a teenager; milking cows at the dairy barn at Texas Tech; and scrubbing vats and floors by hand at the Borden milk plant in Lubbock to help pay his way through college. He was never afraid of hard work. After graduation from Tech, he worked at milk plants in El Paso, Abilene, Houston, New Orleans, Austin, and Albuquerque, where he was plant manager for Price's Valley Gold for several years in the 1970s. His expertise in microbiology was a valuable asset, and after leaving Price's, he traveled both nationally and internationally for many years in the food plant sanitation field as a consultant to companies on problems with a variety of microbiological conditions. He was well respected and sought after in his field, published articles, and was often called on to speak to professional conferences and university groups, as well as provide training for companies on food plant sanitation. He never turned down an opportunity to mentor younger persons, gladly sharing his wealth of experience and knowledge. In recent years, he did food safety training as a volunteer for senior housing facilities, church groups, and Meals on Wheels. Paul was an avid fisherman, having fished in 35 states, four Canadian provinces, the Bahamas, Mexico, St. Thomas, and Aruba. When he traveled on business, he kept a collapsible fishing rod in his suitcase, "just in case." He had replicas made of his trophy fish, preferring to "let the big ones live on." He began collecting postage stamps in the last few months, limiting his collection only to those stamps that pictured fish. Paul volunteered as a reading tutor for the OASIS program and delivered for Meals on Wheels for several years. He took lessons and learned to play the mountain dulcimer in the last few years, an activity that gave him great pleasure. He was a member of the Apple Mountain Dulcimer Club, and for a while, a small dulcimer group, Jest in Time. He was a good cook and baker and enjoyed trying new recipes. He was a man of infinite compassion, taking a leave of absence from his job in 1997 to help Mary care for her terminally ill mother. He was baptized as a child in the Methodist Church, but felt the name over the door of a church was not so important as a person's relationship with God. He was a generous man, sacrificing to see that his children had college degrees and his wife had her doctorate. He and Mary had four children, Nancy Louise, Mary Catherine (who died in 1963), Paul Anderson, and Julie Beth. Paul loved and was very proud of his children-of them as individuals and of their accomplishments. Survivors include his wife, Dr. Mary A. Johnson; daughter, Nancy Louise Johnson Underwood and husband, Wes, of Wheaton, IL; son, Paul Anderson Johnson and wife, Sepi of Albuquerque, both currently working in Shanghai, China; daughter, Julie Beth Johnson Lamb and husband, John of Grosse Pointe, MI; grandchildren, Karl Wesley Underwood, Roger Paul Underwood, Craig Donald Underwood, Claire Elizabeth Underwood, Hannah Abigail McCauley, Ryan Vijay McCauley, Chloe Catherine Lamb, and John "Jack" Palmer Lamb; brothers, Robert H. Johnson of Albuquerque and Richard S. Johnson of Denver; uncle, Malcolm Wright, and many cousins, including Gigi Linne, Juanita Pickett, and Bill Wright, all of Texas; nieces, Kelly Owen, Robin Poulton, Jan Tapia, Stephanie Niketic, Jennifer Robyn and Ann Johnson; nephews, Robert Johnson III, Zachary Johnson, Dan Johnson, and Kent D. Carlisle; and several great-nieces and great-nephews. Pallbearers for Albuquerque service are Jim Chastain of Oregon, John Hansen of Utah, Ted Hill of Albuquerque, Troy Jones of Arizona, Mark Smith of California, and Mark Ward of Michigan. Honorary pallbearers are members of the Albuquerque Meadows morning coffee group, as well as Russ Manthy of Michigan, Chuck Niver of Tennessee, and Dr. Henry Randolph of Alabama. Services will be held at French Mortuary, Lomas Blvd. Chapel, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE, on Saturday, January 28, 11:00 a.m., with Rev. Rick Donaho officiating. Visitation will be Friday, January 27, 2006, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Paul will be buried in the family plot beside his and Mary's daughter and both his and Mary's parents, at Graveside Services on Monday, January 30, 2006, 11:00 a.m., in Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens, San Angelo, TX, with Johnson's Funeral Home of San Angelo in charge of burial services. Pallbearers for the San Angelo Service will be Richard Johnson, Robert H. Johnson, Malcolm Wright, Bill Wright, Aubrey Linne, and Otto Gottschalk. Honorary pallbearers are Paul A. Johnson, Wes Underwood, and John Lamb. Contributions in Paul's memory may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, New Mexico/El Paso Chapter, 3411 Candelaria NE, Ste. M, Albuquerque, NM, 87107, so that someday persons with leukemia will not have to suffer as Paul did. French Mortuary 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE 275-3500
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