Thank you all for your prayers and support for my family at the loss of my Dad, Wilson Leslie Johnson. Many of you met him if only briefly, but having him here these last three years of his life has been a blessing I will treasure forever. Here's a short tribute for my Father, a preacher of the gospel.

A Hero in the Faith Runs Final Race

Wilson Leslie "Jockey" Johnson was born in February 1934 in the four-room house his father built in the middle of a cotton field in Monroe County, Arkansas. During his last months, saying a sentence was hard, but he never lost the ability to say, "I love you!" and his last words were, "I want to get up!"

He married the love of his life in January 1953, Jean.
Together they raised four children. Jean grew up in the
church of Christ and influenced him to study the Bible with
a man who would have a life-changing impact on him. Les was consequently baptized into Christ in 1960. He would eventually migrate his family to Granite City, Illinois, where he would become an elder and desire more and more to preach the gospel.

He started preaching full-time in 1973 for a church of Christ in Godfrey, Illinois. Everyone knew him as “Les” or “Brother Les,” and for 40 years he would occupy pulpits in Illinois, Montana, New York, and Georgia. In 2003, Michael Patterson, Todd "Speech" Thomas, and Brother Les planted a congregation in Atlanta that is known today as "The Path." To Les, Michael and Speech were always his sons and even with Alzheimer's he remembered them fondly, even when so many other memories had succumbed to the wicked disease.

The house in Smyrna where Les and Jean lived on Sandy Lane was well known to hundreds if not thousands of souls who would make their way there almost daily for Bible studies, meals, or just having a cup of coffee with Les. For 27 years that was his “temporary dwelling”, as he would say. From there, he'd drive every day to a bookstore or a coffee shop or a mall — his 'fishing holes' was what he'd call them — to look for, meet, or share coffee and time with folks he wanted to bring to the Lord or fellowship with brothers who shared his zeal for Jesus. When asked if he was

doing alright, he'd always answer, “nothing wrong with me that two or three baptisms won't fix.” Some people close to him never received a note from his that didn't end with the simple citation "Jude 21". Keep yourselves in the love of the Lord Christ Jesus.

In 2017, Les and Jean moved to Portland, Oregon to be close to family there. In no time the congregation fell in love with his winning smile and quick quips. He was 86 years old when he died and is survived by his wife, Jean, his daughter Jacquiline, and two sons Philip and Steven. Announcements for a memorial service will be made as soon as possible.

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