Funeral services for Mr. Willard Woodrow Johnson, 91, of Baxter, were held July 14 in the Baxter Chapel of Hooper-Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home with eulogies provided by his family.  Interment followed in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Mr. Johnson died the morning of July 10 in NHC of Sparta.
He was born June 9, 1922 in Baxter to the late William Louis and Mary Lula Johnson Sr.
After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Willard along with his brother J. T. Johnson started Johnson’s Nursery in Baxter in 1946. Their father, the late W. L. Johnson, started the Baxter Nursery in 1918.
In 1949, the Johnson brothers built the first glass-covered green house between Nashville and Knoxville. They were the first in the state to root Japanese Hollies and Taxus yews in a greenhouse.
Willard’s son, Chuck Johnson, started his retail center in Cookeville in 1968. Chuck, with his wife Sarah and two sons, now operate the Johnson Nursery and Garden Center in Cookeville.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a daughter Frances Palk; two sisters Florence Martin and Elizabeth Cullen; and five brothers Dr .Louis Johnson Jr., Hubert Johnson, Bernice Johnson, John Thomas Johnson Sr. and Harold Johnson.
Survivors include his wife of 73 years Agnes Yates Johnson (whom he married May 28, 1940 in Albany, Ky.); son and daughter-in-law Charles “Chuck” W. and Sarah Johnson of Cookeville; two daughters and sons-in-law Betty and Dr. Ray Troop of McMinnville and Louise and Richard Charles of Cookeville; five grandchildren Jennifer (Dr. John) Little of Knoxville, Charlie (Rebecca) Johnson, David (Susan) Johnson, all of Cookeville, Russell (Michelle) Palk, and Beth Palk, all of Franklin; and 12 great-grandchildren John Grant, Matthew and Sarah Frances Little; Conner and Cooper Palk; Callaway, and Abbey Palk; Leah and Foster Johnson; Anna, Emma, and Will Johnson.
Pallbearers were Charlie Johnson, David Johnson, Russell Palk, John Grant Little, Matthew Little, John T. Johnson Jr., Harold Johnson, Sandy Stanton, Dr. John W. Johnson, and Dr. William Louis Johnson III.
Hooper-Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home, Baxter Chapel, was in charge of arrangements.
SMITHVILLE REVIEW
Smithville, TN
July 17, 2013
www.hhhfunerals.com