Charles Joseph Johnson

Charles Joseph (Joe) Johnson, age 68, passed away on Friday, January 31, 2025 in Grants Pass, OR. He was born on October 25, 1956 in Presidio, San Francisco, CA to Elli Knie (Germany) and Charles Jake Johnson.

After graduating from Glendale (CA) High School, Joe immediately enlisted into the US Army. He came from a military family having a Dad who eventually retired from the Army, and two uncles who were also military with one being US Navy and the other also US Army. He was proud of his military service and talked about it often over the years. His service included a tour in South Korea and another tour in Germany where he finally got to meet some of his mother's family there. His service crossed multiple areas including artillery, Military Police, N.B.C. CO, and engineers. He left the service as an E-5, SGT.

Joe loved to drive. Whether it was long haul tractor trailers, construction trucks, tour buses or his Harley. He always enjoyed the “going somewhere”. He was a proud Teamster and a retired member of Local 631 in Las Vegas, NV. Upon retirement, he and his family moved to Gold Hill, OR.

Joe's pass times included being a die-hard Raiders fan for decades. He was so excited when they moved to Las Vegas where he resided for almost 40 years. He also collected lighthouses and had an “N” scale train set that he loved to share with his kids. (He'd had hopes of becoming a train engineer in the military.) But his favorite was telling stories. He could talk for hours about his life in the military, taking foreign visitors on tour bus trips, or just silly things he saw day-to-day on the road.

Joe was preceded in death by both of his parents. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Debbie, 4 children with two of their spouses, 12 grand-kids, 11 great grand-kids, and all of his siblings.

A committal service will be held at 10:00a.m., February 14, 2025 at Eagle Point National Cemetery.

Please share a memory of Joe in his Guestbook.