Elwood Clayton Johnston

Elwood Clayton Johnston, of Ben Hur, passed away on Wednesday, December 25, 2013, at Windsor Healthcare Residence, with his family by his side. He was 87. A Memorial Service will be scheduled at a later date. Elwood was born January 23, 1926 to Dan W. Johnston and Hortense Curlee Johnston at Mart. He grew up in Ben Hur and attended school there. He entered the U. S. Air Force during the later part of World War II and served in occupied Germany as a radio man. His division was among the first Americans to free prisoners in Auschwitz, although he did not talk much of his experiences. After his honorable discharge, Elwood attended college in Denton on the GI Bill, majoring in business. While in Denton, he met his future wife. Elwood was united in marriage with Patsy Putman on March 19, 1949 in Denton. After living a while in Galveston, they chose to make their home in Rosewell, New Mexico, where he worked as an insurance adjustor and also owned a car lot. After he retired, they moved back to his home-place in Ben Hur to take care of his parents and carry on the farm and ranching. He built the place back up buying back some of the land the family had previously sold and re-opening the family’s store. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Mart. Elwood enjoyed learning to use the computer and surfing the internet. He was a good mechanic that could fix anything, and he had restored the family’s antique tractors. He was very active, and was in the process of planting oats when he suffered a stroke a few months ago. He had been a resident at Windsor for the past three weeks. Elwood was preceded in death by his parent. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Patsy Johnston of Ben Hur; his daughter, Teresa Douglass of Ben Hur; granddaughter, Jennifer Jones of Amarillo; great granddaughter, Caysi Jones of Amarillo; great grandson of Gavin Jones of Amarillo; cousins, Jerry Johnston of Bastrop, Jill Oliver of Ben Hur, Casper West of Amarillo, and Coulter West of Ben Hur; a brother, Newell Johnston of Houston; and nephews, Victor Johnston and Kirk Johnston of Houston.