Wilbur Smith Johnson

      Wilbur Smith Johnson entered this world as the second son of Galen Oren and Tempest (Smith) Johnson on Saturday, June 4, 1932. Wilbur was the third of four children, having an older brother, Oren, an older sister, Patricia (Patsy) and a younger sister, Jeanette (Jan). The Johnson family lived in a farm house close to the Union Chapel Community on the banks of Mule Creek. He was a country lad from the beginning of his life to the end.

      Wilbur spent the first fourteen years of his life on a wheat and cattle ranch near the place of his birth southwest of Medicine Lodge in Barber County, Kansas. He attended Elwood Rural School through the seventh grade.

      As a young boy Wilbur was a sheep herder. He was reading a passage in his Bible from Isaiah 6: 8-9: “8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’

Then I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’ 9And he said, ‘Go, and tell this

people, Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’”

      Convicted by what he was reading, Wilbur answered God’s call, saying aloud, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.”

      His elementary and high school education were completed in two years in Cherryvale, Kansas, while working three jobs. Fulfilling the commitment he made to God while tending sheep, Wilbur moved to Oklahoma City to attend Midwest Christian College where he began to study the scriptures he loved so dearly.

      As a boy, Mr. Johnson attended church services at Union Chapel, southwest of Medicine Lodge. He accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior during a winter revival. Wilbur placed his membership with the First Christian Church of Cherryvale, Kansas, where he was later ordained to the Christian ministry in 1950. He was a member of the Ashland United Methodist Church of Ashland, Kansas, at the time of his passing.

      Wilbur began preaching at the age of 15. He graduated in 1952 from Midwest Christian College of Oklahoma City with his undergraduate degree in Christian Ministries. He pursued graduate studies at Butler University School of Religion in Indianapolis, Indiana.

      Mr. Johnson met his wife, Imalee, while caring for a flower garden on the grounds of the college they attended. She came around a corner, he looked up, and there she was. They were married on May 11, 1951, and had celebrated 66 years of happy marriage with all the joy and sorrow, sickness and health, a little prosperity and much adversity, mentioned in their marriage vows. They were blessed with five children – two sons (Lynn and Galen) and three daughters (Teresa, Rebecca, and Lisa).

      Wilbur and Imalee labored in full time ministries at West Lebanon, Indiana, and Minneola, Kansas. In 1974 the Lord called Wilbur again. This time he and Imalee would serve their Lord and Savior as Revival Evangelists. They shared in a traveling ministry, Faith Alive Days, for twenty-five years in churches all across the United States. Wilbur and Imalee continued an active prayer ministry even as Wilbur was a resident of the Ashland Care Home Senior Living.

      In addition to preaching and counseling Pastor Johnson served his fellow-man by authoring these six books: *Faith Alive in Heart, Home and Church (1989); *Build My People (1991); *Take Charge of Life (1994); *Jesus in the Holy Land and Egypt Sand (co-authored by his wife Imalee) (1996); Rhymes for the Times (a book of his poems) (1996); *The Holy Spirit Applied (1999); and, *God Calls Us to Maturity Not Perfection (2004).

      Across the years Wilbur wrote dozens of poems, preached hundreds of sermons, presided over dozens of weddings and scores of funerals, and grilled chicken and hamburgers for many a hungry camper. He also served as a leader in many Christian youth camps, his College Alumni Association, the North America Christian Convention, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, and the Warren County (Indiana) Mental Health Association.

      Mr. Johnson departed this life age the age of 85 on Thursday, December 7, 2017.

      He was preceded in death by his father in 1976 and his mother in 1992. Also predeceasing Mr. Johnson were his oldest son, Raymon Lynn Johnson in 1971, his brother, Oren Johnson in 1994, his youngest daughter, Lisa Kaye Johnson in 1997, and his oldest daughter, Teresa Fay Johnson in 2010.

      Remaining to mourn his passing is his wife, Imalee (Barrick) Johnson, of Ashland, Kansas. His son, Wilbur Galen Johnson and wife Kim, of Rolla, Missouri. His daughter, Rebecca Suzanne Johnson, also of Ashland, Kansas. Seven grandchildren. Elizabeth Markham (husband Matt), Nathaniel Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Seth Johnson, Hannah Johnson, Timothy Johnson, and Katharine Strunk.  Two great-grandchildren. Ariana and Kevin Markham. Nine nephews and three nieces. Two sisters, Patsy Smith of Dallas, Texas, and Jan Prough-Rader (Jerry Rader) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.