Carl Arthur Johnson (Babe) passed away peacefully on February 19, 2021 at his home in Turtle Valley BC.
Carl, previously a long time resident of Agassiz BC leaves to mourn his passing, his loving wife and true love Jeannie (nee MacPherson), daughter Sherann (Scott), son Scott (Tracey), step-daughter Lianne.
He is survived by six grandchildren, one great grandson, two remaining siblings and an extended loving step family.
Carl was born on September 3, 1943 in Notikewin, Alberta during tough times into a close knit Swedish settler family with two older sisters and one brother (Marion, John and Anne). Mother proudly carried $1.50 in her wallet for a full year as they 'managed'.
The family eventually packed all of their worldly possessions and left Alberta, travelling in their 'tiny home' complete with a wood stove built by father that sat atop their pick up, in the late 40s.
They settled in Harrison Hot Springs, where Carl's father built many houses by hand. The first one being made with railway ties. Soon after settling in, came the flood of 48. Carl enjoyed his stay in the 'big city' after families were evacuated, watching and riding the city tram (streetcar), that networked through the streets of Vancouver. Returning again to Agassiz for school, Carl excelled at sports, baseball being his favorite. He was a lefty, and learned to throw or bat with either.
Carl started working from a very young age. One of his first paying jobs was selling golf balls. He had trained his pet crow to collect them off of the Harrison golf course while golfers were in play. This of course was not popular with management, so sadly his budding business was shut down fairly quickly.
Surviving the many antics of his mischievous youth, Carl settled into work. During these early years he worked in the booming logging industry of the time, as well as farming and various self start up businesses to support his young family.
He eventually trained as a mechanic/welder where he excelled, often single handedly, in keeping various logging camps up and running around the Harrison lake area. His fondest memories were during his time spent up at Ten Mile camp.
He eventually retired... sort of. Now living on a farm of his own once again, he had lots to do.
He added to that by driving school bus for the district of Agassiz. This was a job he enjoyed very much. He loved taking the sports teams to wherever they needed to be, as well watching the games. He was a great support and an unforgettable favourite to many students. Around this time, he also started up Kent Livestock Hauling, where he made lasting friendships with many local farmers.
Carl made friends wherever he went. "I'm just a little old senior on a fixed income.", was a favourite line of his in his later years. He made a friend and a deal at the same time with that one.
It seemed like anyone who knew Carl would have a funny story about him. He was overflowing with character. He impacted a lot of people with his sharp wit and truly sincere kindness.
I feel fortunate to have had him in my life. He was a very funny and an extraordinarily loving dad. I will miss him so much.
Special thank you to Pat MacKenzie for your selfless support and genuine kindness during dads last few weeks.
Donations to his favourite charity may be made in his name to the Variety Club of BC.
Online condolences may be sent to Carl's family through his obituary at www.bowersfuneralservice.com
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