Elmo Johnston

Elmo was born in Corning, Arkansas and moved to Broken Arrow at the age of 6 with his parents.  One of his grade school memories is his second grade year.  He says he received several “whippins”.  He said, and I quote, “I wasn't a bad kid, I just liked to talk”.  As he recalls, his 2nd grade teacher was Mrs. R.D. Patterson.  How many of you remember her?  The “whippin” he remembers most was the one she gave him when it broke his spinning top he had in his back pocket.  That swat also gave her a blood blister on her hand.

Elmo did not get to play sports much in high school due to a back injury that happened when he was in the 9th grade; although he did play basketball during his senior year. How many of you knew that at one time Broken Arrow had what they called a “town baseball team”?  Well, Elmo played left field for the town team when he was in his 30’s.

Elmo Johnston graduated from Broken Arrow high school in 1943. After graduation from high school, Elmo spent 4 years in the Navy during WWII. He was a machinist mate 1st class.  When he first joined the Navy, he received 10 weeks of machinist schooling and 2 weeks of refrigeration schooling.  One story he told me was when the ship he was on was en route to Hawaii, the big walk-in freezer quit freezing.  Now the chief on the ship knew about Elmo’s 2 weeks of refrigeration schooling, so he called Elmo in, gave him a book that was about 1½ to 2 inches thick, and told him to “read it and fix the freezer”.  The only catch was that others had already tried to fix the freezer and had torn it all apart.  Elmo had to put it all back together before he could find out what was wrong.  When he had accomplished that, he told the chief the only thing wrong was it needed a new door gasket.  When the ship reached Hawaii, the chief called a refrigeration company to check the freezer.  You guessed it; all it needed was a new door gasket.  The gasket was replaced and within a few hours the freezer temperature dropped to 10 degrees.  I guess we all know the rest of the story now as to where his life long career came from.

After his tenure in the Navy, Elmo attended Northeastern A&M college at Miami to study air conditioning and refrigeration.  Elmo had 15 years experience in this field when he decided to form his own company business.  So in 1960, he started Johnston Heat and Air here in Broken Arrow.  After 48 years, Elmo was at his office 5 day a week. 

Elmo had been active in the Broken Arrow Lions Club, and the Jaycees; where he was president in 1962.  He was also a member of the city of Broken Arrow's planning commission for 26 years.  When he retired from the planning commission in 1995, the city held an Elmo Johnston day.

Now Elmo had been a big fisherman for a long time.  He went deep sea fishing in the gulf for at least 15 years, always around Thanksgiving he said.  His biggest catch was a sailfish weighing 138 pounds.  He also caught a 16 or 18-pound fish, I can’t remember which he said, at Choke Canyon lake in south Texas.  He told me there was a lake in Mexico where they could catch a hundred fish a day.  Sounds like a lot of fish to me!  So if you like to hear fish tales, go by his business office, I’m sure he would like to tell you about his fishing trips.  While your there, he might even show you the two fish I told you about, they're hanging on the wall.

Elmo had been a deacon in the Baptist church for 40 years.

Elmo loved sports and was a great family man.

Elmo married Nadine Bowles, who moved here from Jay, Oklahoma.  He had two children who graduated from Broken Arrow high school.  His family includes daughter Janet and husband Bill.  Janet was a softball player.  Son Jimmy and wife Beverly.  Jimmy played football for BA high school and attended college at Northeastern on a football scholarship for one semester.  He was hurt most of the time so he came home and went to work for his dad in the heat and air business. 

Elmo’s granddaughter, Megan McClellan, passed away in June of this year, just one week after her 15^th birthday.  She was a softball pitcher for the Skiatook Lady Bulldogs.  He had 2 grandsons, Adam Johnston who is attending Fort Scott junior college in Kansas on a baseball scholarship.  He is a sophomore, and Bradley Johnston who is a junior here at Broken Arrow high school.  He is an active member of the FFA.  Bradley played football in the BA youth league until a hip injury forced him to quit.  You can see how Elmo’s love for sports has been passed down to his children and grandchildren.

Congratulations to Elmo Johnston on being selected as a great graduate in 2008.

Bequests may be directed to: Faith Baptist Church Children's Building; 2800 S. 1st Pl., Broken Arrow, OK.  (918) 455-5630  www.faithba.org

Visitation: 10am-6pm Sat. and 12pm-6pm Sun.; Service: 11am Monday, October 20, 2008 at Faith Baptist Church, 2800 S. 1^st Pl., Broken Arrow, officiated by Rev. Randy Shaddox and Rev. Leon Dashner; Interment: Park Grove Cemetery.  Kennedy-Amis-Kennard Funeral Service of Broken Arrow, 251.5331, www.kakfs.com.