Kenneth William Johns, 78, of Denton, passed away on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 of COPD in Denton, TX.
Ken was born on October 17, 1932 in Barnesville, Ohio to William Leroy and Verna C. Hall Johns. He was next to oldest of a family of eleven children. On March 3, 1957 he married Phyllis Jean Roberts at the First Methodist Church in Bellevue, Ohio.
He graduated from Barnesville High School with the class of 1950 and joined the United States Air Force in 1951 and served until 1955.
Ken had worked as a brakeman for the Nickel Plate Railroad in Ohio after his enlistment was over, then as a salesman the rest of his life; working for Gillette Safety Razor Co. and Playtex and for GAF all in Phoenix, Arizona, GAF in Chicago, Illinois and New Jersey, and then transferring once again to San Antonio, Texas in 1974. Then he worked for Fuji Photo Film for 23 years in Houston and Carrollton until he retired in 1997. He then moved to Denton in 2001, and drove a school bus for DISD for 7 years, and then he worked for DCTA in Access Bus and then ran routes at the UNT campus.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Phyllis Roberts Johns of Denton; one daughter, Pamela Laureen Johns Strickland and husband, Doctor Larry L. Strickland, Jr., D.P.M. and grandson, Connor William Strickland, all of Denton; son, Steven McMichael Johns and his wife, Kimi Wilson Johns, and granddaughters, Brittany Selis Johns and Bridgette Nicole Johns, all of Whitewright, Texas; son, Eric Charles Johns of Denton, and granddaughter Hannah Leigh Johns of Azle, Texas; sister, Beulah Pauline Johns Webb in Oroville, Washington; sister, Josephine Halle Johns Kanya and husband, Ronald P. Kanya in Hinckley, Ohio; brother, Guy Roger Johns and wife, Connie Johns of Barnesville, Ohio; sisters, Bonnie Johns of Las Vegas, Nevada, sister, Linda Johns of Phoenix, Arizona; brothers, Roger Johns of Columbus, Ohio and Keith Johns of Zanesville, Ohio. Many nephews and nieces and many great-nephews and great-nieces also survive. Great nephew, Brad Curtis and wife, Karen Curtis, and great-great nephews, Christopher and Seth Curtis, all from this area.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Dorothy Mae Johns in 1933; his mother, Verna C. Hall Johns in 1936; his stepmother, Della Zurcher Johns in 1955; brother, Johnny Lee Johns in 1989; and his father, William L. Johns in 1995, niece Jo Ann Long in 2002; brother, Thomas Dean Johns-Major in 2010.
A visitation will be from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Friday October 14, 2011 at the funeral home. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM Saturday October 15, 2011 in the chapel of Mulkey-Mason Funeral Home, 705 N. Locust, Denton, TX. Interment will be at 10:30 AM Tuesday October 18, 2011 at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery.