Birth date: Aug 18, 1938 Death date: Apr 19, 2025
Duard Dwight Johnson was born August 18, 1938 to Frank and Linda E. Whitney Johnson in the community of Drynob, Missouri. He passed away Saturday, April 19, 2025 in Lebanon North Nursing and Rehab at the age of eighty-six years, e Read Obituary
Duard gave Doug his first job at 15 at the Conoco station.He will be missed by us.Doug and Tina and kenny morgan
Duard was a "one of a kind" person!! Met him "many years ago" during the drag racing era!! Kelly was a baby, Jack and I were not married yet, we would go to he and Barbara's, so the "guys" could talk drag racing!! Then, years later, he was a client, where I worked and became reconnected with he and Barbara!! So many memories!! Kelly, Dale and family, remember the "good times"!
My favorite place was the Ozark Gift Shop. I can still hear the tick tock of all the clocks ticking and chiming all at once and the smell of cedar gifts.
The sound of my mom, Vickie, and Aunt Barbara laughing together was priceless. Uncle Duard would walk in and want to know what was funny and that just made them laugh harder. For a time, charismatic Uncle Gary was in the office too. Kelly would walk in to the station after school dressed like Madonna.
Duard was a busy force of nature. He was always on the move and checking things out. He was always thinking of new things to do or things that needed to be done next. He was quick to smile and tell a story.
I especially like the Grand Opening Day of One Stop. Duard was excited, gas was cheap, the store was shiny and new and unlike anything else in Lebanon.
I was making ice cream cones with Kay. Kelly was dressed in the Michelin Man costume and I wished I was big enough to wear it. The lines of cars for gas was long and Duard was happy to have a big turnout. He walked around and spoke to everyone.
Their imprint on Lebanon was important and lasting.
Love Dena
Duard was a force on the Library Board as local leaders and volunteers raised money to convert the Kmart building to a first-class facility. He was a super Friend of the Library! We owe him and Barbara a great deal. RIP
My dad worked for Him for several Years. He was a kind man and he was like another father to me. He will be greatly missed for he was kind and generous.
I remember helping Duard set the timing on his 1951 Ford with a Chrysler engine! He wanted to test run it but it didn't have an accelerator. I pulled the wire on the carburator while he shifted gears. Lots of memories like that! My sympathy to the family.
There are too many memories to post. Most of all I will remember Duard for his kindness towards me, my Mother and our family. Duard was a part of our lives before I was born. Later in life I really got to know him as he and Barbara were our business partners in A-1 Automotive. Duard was a busy man, just how he liked it always something new going on. Yet he always had time for us. He will be missed. May he rest in eternal peace with Jesus Christ our Lord, and may God comfort Kelly, his family and friends.
I worked for Duard. If you worked hard and watched out for the business he respected that. He had high expectations and wasn't afraid to voice his opinion. But when he was wrong he admitted it too. You would never get rich working for Duard. But if you worked for what he was willing to pay you. The check was always good.
When I was a boy I ventured all over Lebanon on my bicycle; those days in the early 1980’s were different.
In the summertime I took of with my imagination and backbone to go find adventure around town. Mom and Dad set limits on where I could ride, and what was off limits marked by crossing 64 Highway or Highway 5. For the most part I listened, except when I learned the library would loan me records for weeks at a time! In hindsight I guess they knew as I would bring home Johnny Horton and Faron Young albums and listen on our record player.
One of the first adventures of each day was gathering money for a soda and some candy. I always stopped by Mamo and Poppy’s on Pierce Street to get lunch and cool down with their window air conditioning unit!
I would find soda bottles people threw in the ditches and certain stores would give me a few cents to a nickel for certain “returnable” bottles. Vernon’s Market, St. Bernard’s Orchid store and Johnsons Service Center (the Conoco stations in town). This is where I met Duard Johnson…when I was a boy on my bicycle wearing blue jeans, no shirt, and tennis shoes.
If Durand was around he thought my business of collecting bottles was pretty innovative (although I had no idea what that meant). He would pat me on the head and let me get a fountain soda for free! Finally I got the courage to say “Mister, do you have any work for me to make some money?” He replied “for you, I’ll always have work, just come see me”.
And I did from age 12 on, till I graduated High School and went into the Marines. As a boy I did terrible jobs like picking up trash, getting the water out of used tires, organizing tires, and whatever job which Duard offered me for a few bucks…and a fountain soda of course.
At 16 he hired me to be a gas station attendant pumping gas in the full service lane. Outfitted with my conoco uniform (blue pants, white shirt, and matching blue work jacket) with the Conoco logo on one breast and my name, Darrell, in cursive on the other.
In 1989 I pumped gas and he paid me $10 and hour (minimum wage was 3.35) and I earned commission by selling you a can of oil (with the metal spout I inserted in the top). I cleaned your windshield for free and Duard taught me about customer services.
I worked Sunday to Thursday nights from 5 PM to 11PM running the lane and refstocking the coolers of drinks.
Duard made me bring a letter of my grades each week and if I had below a C grade he cut my hours for the next week.
I respected him, valued him, and will never forget him. To me, he was one of the greatest men I ever met.
Darrell Williams
