Biography: After leading an incredibly interesting life filled with amazing experiences, Lieutenant Colonel Richard D. Johnson passed away on January 13, 2022, just before his 86th birthday. His friends and family are comforted by the knowledge that his was a life well lived, and truly an adventure.
His 20 years of service in the US Army included wartime service in Vietnam as well as tours spent in locales such as Hawaii, the coast of Italy, and the Presidio of San Francisco. During that career, he travelled extensively, and reveled in the foods, music and cultures he encountered. And as a father, he enjoyed the opportunity to give his son a childhood filled with these experiences.
Upon retiring from the military, he settled in Little Rock Arkansas, where he became the Director of Transportation for the Little Rock School District. He retired a second time, but that didn’t take either, so he became a small business owner. It was in Arkansas that he met and fell in love with his wife, Rita. They spent the next 36 years together.
Along with Rita, he is survived by his son Brad, his stepchildren Courtney and Tim, and his sister Charlene.
He played the saxophone beautifully.
He played the guitar. Poorly. But could entertain for hours in spite of it.
He elevated story-telling to an artform.
Both throughout his military career and in the civilian world, he achieved a great deal as measured in medals, commendations, advancements in rank, etc. But friends and family will remember his greatest achievement as that of being the kind of person you could count on, look up to, learn from, laugh with, and laugh at. And his son will remember the inspiring example he set, both as a man and as a father.
That’s how you spend 86 years well. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com