Robert Jay Johnson

Robert Jay Johnson was born April 13, 1924 in Richmond to Joseph Jay and Winona Labelle Larson Johnson. Robert was a veteran of World War II.

History

Robert was raised in a hardworking home with some common farm animals. During the Great Depression, Robert would hoe a row of corn for 10¢ while his father worked a whole day's work for $1. However, the Johnson family persevered.

Robert enlisted in the United States Army for World War II on Nov 27, 1943 and entered active duty on Dec 18. He was assigned to Fort Pendleton, California for training in the Artillery Division. Due to a mix-up, the Artillery Division was assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for Infantry training. Instead of sending the men back to California, they trained the men as Infantry.

"One day during their training, [Dad] told me he was in charge of the rifle range during shooting practice when one of the soldiers went haywire, stood up and started shooting all around. He was shot in the behind and was laid up in the hospital for a few weeks. Upon getting out they made him an Army Police Office. He said he was to travel the country and pick up AWOL (Absent without Leave) soldiers."

Robert was honorably discharged on May 10, 1946. He decided to stay in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged on Oct 15, 1958.

After his service, Robert met and married Lois Crossley on June 17, 1947 in the Logan, Utah Temple. Soon after their marriage, the couple moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho to work on Robert's uncle's farm to save money to buy a home. They purchased a home near the corner of 200 S and 100 E, "a one room log house which was among the first built in Richmond." The home soon tragically caught fire, but was not destroyed.

In the early 1950s, John Hubbard of Arizona approached Robert to tend his 15,000-30,000 acre farm near Dillon, Montana. Loving farming, Robert boarded up the destroyed home and moved his family to Montana. They lived in Montana for 3 years and decided to move back to Richmond in 1956 after discussing whether to send their eldest son to school in Montana.

Upon their return, Robert refurbished the burned home and began working as a technician at Sego Milk. Robert and Lois wanted to build a bigger home to replace their pioneer home. It was decided that Lois would go to work as a lunch lady at Park Elementary to help pay for the new home. During harvest seasons, Lois would also work nights at the Delmont Corn Plant in Smithfield, Utah, for some extra money. In 1960, Robert and Lois started construction on their new home and demolished the old pioneer home.

"...at about 6:00 am, we were all asleep except dad and mom . Mom was fixing breakfast before dad left for work at 6:30 am. Dad was reading the newspaper and sitting at the kitchen table. We had a large picture window in the kitchen that had a full view of our back yard and our little acre of hay or wheat dad grew; the mountains, and our neighbor’s yard up the block. Dad had just set the paper down and looked out the window. He saw the neighbor’s corn stocks lay flat to the grown and stand back up. He shook his head and once again the corn stocks laid flat down and stood back up. He thought he was not quite awake; then it started. The rumbling sound was almost like a jet engine and then shaking. The entire house began to shake. Mother started to scream as all of the cupboards were flying open and dishes falling out. My bed was moving back and forth around the room as I heard mother screaming. I jumped up as best I could and staggered down the hall as the house was moving back and forth. Dad was grabbing mother and then it stopped. We just had a [5.8] earthquake ... Our home had little damage, maybe because it had recently been built, but all around our town there were homes damaged, ... the chimney on our grandmothers home came down. We were all safe with no major injuries or deaths.

"...This was a traumatic event in our town. ... No longer could we hold church in our building. Church was held for several months in the town hall/movie theater until a new chapel/stake center could be built. Different from today, churches were built by member donations and assessments. Much of the donations could be done with work assignments. Dad was there working on the new chapel (which would also be our new Stake Center) every chance he had between working his full-time job at the Sego Milk plant and chores at home. Dad worked to help pay their assessment. He was dedicated to whatever was asked of him in any church assignment."

Robert also helped in the city in the American Legion, Lions Club, Black & White Days committee, and as a City Policeman. In 1967, Robert was asked to move from working at the Sego Milk factory in Richmond to Buhl, Idaho. After much consideration, the Johnson family decided to move to Idaho Falls.

Epilogue