Johnny Johnston - IMAC Class of 1951

John H. Johnston III, 74, retired publisher of The Leavenworth Times and author of numerous books on the history of Leavenworth, died of cancer at his home on December 22, 2007. He was born in Leavenworth on March 18, 1933, the son of John H. II and Mae Adams Johnston.
He attended the Leavenworth Catholic schools, graduating from Immaculata High School in 1951. After a year at St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, he joined The Leavenworth Times as a photographer and reporter in 1953.
Mr. Johnston was married to Marianna (Annie) Walker (LHS Class of 1954) in 1958. The couple moved to Topeka where he worked for the Topeka newspaper. They returned to Leavenworth in 1960 when he became news editor of Times. Seven years later he became managing editor.
Mr. Johnston was a past state chairman of Kansas Associated Press Wire Editors. His photographs and reporting received awards in state and national competition sponsored by The Associated Press.
In 1973 he became Times general manager and publisher. He retired from the newspaper in 1990 and later worked at Forest of Peace Publishing, a religious publishing house, as assistant to the publisher. He retired from commercial publishing in 2003.
Mr. Johnston published his first book, Leavenworth, Beginning to Bicentennial, in 1976. He subsequently published nine additional histories and co-published a centennial history of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1982. He also edited and published several books for local authors.
He was past president of the Leavenworth Jaycees and Leavenworth Lions Club; past chairman of the board of the Red Cross and Salvation Army Advisory Board; served on the board of the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society and was a member of the Leavenworth County Historical Society, the First City Museum and C.W. Parker Carousel Museum. He was a member of Eagles Aerie 55 and R.E.A.C., and wrote a centennial history of Aerie 55 in 2001.
Mr. Johnston was a 50-year member of Leavenworth Council No. 900, Knights of Columbus, and a member of the Associates of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. For many years he served on the board of directors of the Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce and received the Leavenworth Citizen of the Year Award in 1972. He served on a special Chamber of Commerce committee that assisted Hallmark Cards in acquisition of the property on Eisenhower Road for the Hallmark Cards Production Center.
On May 20, 2006, he was inducted into the Immaculata High School Hall of Fame, and on November 16, 2007, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Leavenworth County Historical Society.
He was a member of St. Casimir Church where he had served as a reader and communion minister to the homebound.
Surviving other than his wife Annie of the home are two daughters, Susan Marie Maguire and Carrie Johnston, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Sunday afternoon, December 30, 2007, from 2:00 to 4:00 at R. L. Leintz Funeral Home in Leavenworth and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Casimir Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, December 31. Interment will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the Leavenworth Catholic Schools, Saint Vincent Clinic, Catholic Community Hospice, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Note from The Old Man: I own several of Mr. Johnston's books. Some contain pictures of the Leavenworth we knew when we were young. I have and will continue to post a picture or two from these books on this blog. Thanks for the memories, Johnny.