Father: George Leamon Johnson
Mother: Mary Maude Jones

Spouse: Mary Inez Kenyon - b: 25/Mar/1906 - Gentry Co., MO
  d: 16/Jun/1988 - bur: High Ridge Cem., Stanberry, Gentry Co., MO
 m: 8/Oct/1924 - King City, MO

Child-1: Mary Catherine - b: 4/Aug/1926 - Cooper Twp., Gentry Co., MO
                                         d: 10/Oct/1945 - Albuquerque, NM - bur: High Ridge Cem., Stanberry, Gentry Co., MO
          2: Luella Frances - b: 24/Jan/1928 - Savannah, Andrew Co., MO
                                       d: 28/Jun/1997 - bur: Fillmore Cem., Fillmore, Andrew Co., MO
                                      m: Thomas Earl Lawrie, Sr. - 25/Oct/1947 - Barnard, Gentry Co., MO
          3: Bessie Nadine
          4: Evelyn Louise
          5: Marjorie Ann - b: 21/Jan/1934 - Cooper Twp., Gentry Co., MO
                                   d: 8/Dec/2015 - St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., MO - bur: Savannah Cem., Savannah, Andrew Co.
                                  m: Doyle Edward Lance - 31/Jan/1956 - Andrew Co., MO - div:
          6: Donald Ray - b: 21/Jun/1940 - Cooper Twp., Gentry Co., MO
                                   d: 22/Dec/1997 - bur: High Ridge Cem., Stanberry, Gentry Co., MO
                                  m: Carol Baker - 7/Jan/1961 - TX - div: Sep/1962
                                  m: Frances Jenell Ramsey - 26/Oct/1963 - Austin, TX

Biographical Details:

Ray was the oldest child of Leamon and Maude Johnson and was born in Gentry County, Missouri, presumably Cooper Township, on December 9, 1903.  He grew up and lived in this locality all of his life and married Mary Inez Kenyon in King City on October 8, 1924.¹  In 1930, Ray and Inez were renting a farm in northwestern Jackson Township; however, they eventually settled in Cooper Township just a quarter of a mile north of his father's farm.  Accordingly, Ray was a farmer and also engaged in the trucking business for most of his life.  Ray and Inez were the parents of six children; however, their oldest daughter, Catherine, died of infectious lung disease at only nineteen years of age.^2,3  At that time, antibiotic medicines were not yet in general use and it was thought that an arid climate could provide relief.  In a heroic attempt to improve her health, Ray set out with her in his truck toward the arid southwest.  Unfortunately, Mary Catherine died in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  A later account by his daughter, Nadine, tells of how Ray brought her body home in the back of his truck, "A hard sad trip for him, how hard I didn't realize until many years later."  She also recounts how the family would travel for seasonal work, such as harvesting bluegrass seed and how when at home they hunted, fished, and gathered mushrooms much as generatons of country people had done before them.  After surviving open heart surgery in October of 1979, Ray Leland Johnson died on July 4, 1982.  Inez survived six more years.  Both are buried in the High Ridge Cemetery in Stanberry.

1. "Both from Island City, MO.  Married at Christian parsonage in King City, MO.  The Bride is the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. John Kenyon.  Groom is the son of Mr. & Mrs. George Johnson.  Miss Dorothy Johnson, sister of the Groom, & Wesley Kenyon, brother of the Bride were the attendants"  (marriage notice: Albany Ledger; Albany, MO, Thur., Oct. 16, 1924.)
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2.  K. Bovaird, N. Newman, E. Miller, B. Phillips, N. Summa, and R. Pierce, Once Upon a Railroad, Stanberry, Missouri 1879-1979, Inter-Collegiate Press, Shawnee Mission, KS, 1979: pgs. 299-300.
     "Ray and Inez Johnson   Raymond Leland Johnson, son of George Leamon and Mary Maud Jones Johnson, was born December 9, 1903, in Gentry County near Island City.  On October 8, 1924, he married Mary Inez Kenyon, daughter of John Wesley and Ira Belle Perkins Kenyon.  Inez was born March 25, 1906, in Gentry County, southeast of Stanberry.
     To this union six children were born: Mary Catherine, who died October 10, 1945, at the age of 19; Luella Frances, now Mrs. Thomas Lawrie of Fillmore; Bessie Nadine, now Mrs. Ralph McCampbell Jr. of Stanberry; Evelyn Louise, now Mrs. Charles Sherry of Stanberry;; Marjorie Ann, now Mrs. Doyle Lance of Savannah; T. Sgt. Donald Ray Johnson, Air Force career man stationed at Offutt Air Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
     Ray has been a grain and livestock trucker and farmer all of his adult life.  He started trucking with a used 1925 Model T truck in 1926.  For several years he was associated in the bluegrass business with Everett Bradshaw, heading grass in South Dakota and Minnesota.
     Inez is active in the Island City Christian Church where she is and has been a Sunday school teacher of the women's class for several years.  She has a perfect Sunday school attendance record of 22 continuous years.  Ray and Inez are both members of the Island City Church.
     The Johnsons live on a farm three and one-half miles southwest of Stanberry.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have a great love for the farm and the work it involves.   Submitted by daughter, Nadine McCampbell"
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3. "Marjorie 'Marge' A. Lance 81, Savannah, Missouri, passed from this life on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph.  She was born January 21, 1934 in Stanberry, Missouri to Raymond L. & Mary Inez (Kenyon) Johnson.  Marge married Doyle Lance on January 31, 1956 and they later divorced but from this union three children were born."
     "She graduated from Stanberry High School.  Marge loved her family and the precious time spent with them.  She was a member of First Baptist Church Savannah.  She received the Service to Mankind Award from the Savannah Sertoma Club.  She enjoyed painting, and country music.  Survivors include; one son, Monty Lance of Savannah, MO; two daughters, Janet & James Richmond of Country Club, MO and Lisa Lance & Tim Townsend of Savannah, MO; two sisters Nadine McCampbell and Evelyn Sherry both of Stanberry, MO; nine grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.  She is preceded in death by her parents; one brother Donald Johnson; two sisters Mary Catherine Johnson, and Frances Lawrie.
     Celebration of Life will be at 11:00 AM, Friday December 11, 2015 at Breit-Hawkins Funeral Home, Savannah, Missouri.  Interment will be in Savannah Cemetery."  (obituary: Newspaper unknown)
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Additional Citations:

4. 1930 US Census Population Schedule for Gentry County, Missouri, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 111B, (microfilm: roll T626_1188; img. 224).

5. 1940 US Census Population Schedule for Gentry County, Missouri, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 89B, (microfilm: roll T627_2106; img. 542).

6. Don Raymond,"High Ridge Cemetery", unpublished. (Gentry County MOGenWeb Archives, 2005.)

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7. Marriage Records, Gentry County, Albany, MO:  Bk. 11, pg. 527, (Missouri State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Jefferson City, MO (microfilm: roll 37665; img. 574).

8. Death Master File, Social Security Administration, Washington, DC, continuously updated.

9. Nadine McCampell, Johnson Family History, The Printery, Albany, MO, 1982: pgs. 173-89.

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