Mr. James Johnson

JOHNSON, Mr. James - Age 64, passed away Saturday, December 17, 2016 at his residence. Family hour 11:00 AM December 28, 2016 at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2109 M.L. King Ave., with funeral service commencing at 12:00 PM Pastor Rodney Ellison officiating. Interment Lovedale Memorial Cemetery, G-5175 E. Bristol Rd., Burton, MI. Friends and pallbearers will assemble at the church 11:00 AM Wednesday. Mr. Johnson will lie in state in the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, 906 W. Flint Park Blvd., and may be viewed from 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM Tuesday. Mr. James Nathaniel Johnson was born December 8, 1952 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of William T. and Lena Mae Johnson. He was known to most as “Jimmy”. James family moved from Hawaii to Los Angeles, CA when he was a young child. “Jimmy” was the third son (baby boy) born to the union of Lena and William. He was very smart in school and very good with assembling anything that needed to be put together. “Jimmy” was so good with his hands that all he needed was the picture on the box to put it together. He had a love for cars at a very early age. At the age of sixteen he purchased his first car, a brown GTO; he would work on that car and shine on it for many hours a day. A couple years later he upgraded and purchased a new Firebird. “Jimmy” and several of his friends purchased the same model car and started a club call the “Firebird’s.” On weekends you would see the club cruising around Compton, CA. This was just the beginning for “Jimmy”, he then went on to purchase a brown 240Z and he named that car his “Brown Baby.” After that car he purchased his red Porsche 928. This may have been Jimmy’s favorite car of his youth. Many years later after he moved to Flint, MI, he purchased a 1984 Corvette which was the car of the year. “Jimmy” would drive his corvette and have it on display during Flint’s Annual “Back To The Bricks” parade. Notice what all these cars had in common ...speed. He met the love of his life while she was visiting family in California. “Jimmy” always said it was love at first site. One week later, he moved from California to Michigan and then one month later on September 12, 1987 “Jimmy” and Neva got married. They recently celebrated 29 years of marriage and were planning to renew their vows for their 30th Wedding Anniversary. He was a family man in every sense of the word. “Jimmy” enjoyed grilling and cooking delicious meals for his family. He loved decorating the house with lights during Christmas and was always excited to be with family.“Jimmy” loved watching television especially basketball games. His favorite team was the Los Angeles Lakers. He also enjoyed watching westerns and black & white movies. “Jimmy especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, who affectionately called him “Poppy”. Whenever the grandchildren were around he was in the midst of them all playing, talking, laughing, watching cartoons or doing his famous Donald Duck impressions. His grandchildren loved their “Poppy” and he loved them as well, they never left each others side. He will truly be missed. Mr. James Nathaniel Johnson leaves to cherish his memory: wife, Neva Johnson of Flint; 2 daughters, Lekeisha Johnson of Paramount, CA and Jamie (Richard) Steen of Rialto, CA; 2 sons, Marcola (Precious) Powell and James (Jennifer) Johnson, all of Flint; 12 grandchildren, Kenya, Kenny, Mia, Lance and Lia, all of Paramount, CA, Mariyah, Layla, Jordyn, Jenniya, Miya and Marcus, all of Flint, and Richard “Bud” of Rialto, CA; 3 sisters, Leilana (Floyd) Drain, and Keilani Greenwade, all of Anaheim, CA, and Zena (Eric) Tyler of Murrieta, CA; brother, Roland Vegas of Maui, HI; 4 nieces, Charmaine Vegas of Long Beach, CA, Monique Whitfield of Anaheim, CA, Nicole Tyler and Nina Tyler; nephew, Evan Tyler, all of Murrieta, CA; 2 aunts, Mattie Thompson and Carrie Brannon, both of Abbeville, MS; a host of other relatives and friends including special friends, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Bransford, and Saville Shumpert. Mr. Johnson was preceded in death by his parents, William and Lena Johnson; brothers, William “Butch” Johnson and Robert “Soto” Johnson. The family would like to express special thanks to Pastor Rodney Ellison and Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church family, and Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home.

Mr. James Johnson

December 8, 1952 - December 17, 2016