Bill Johnson

May 24, 1934 - November 8, 2012 Bill Johnson started his life's journey on May 24, 1934 at 10:14 a.m. at Denver General Hospital. He was named William for his father William, Charlie for his father's brother. This was during the Great Depression, a period when many Americans found themselves unemployed as well as his father. His father's age was 62; his mother's age was 34. He had two older sisters, Rose and Winnie, and in 1937 had another sister, Barbara. Bill moved many times during his childhood. His mother and dad separated when he was 3 ½ years old. He was put in a foster home for awhile before his wonderful Aunts came to take him and his sisters to live with them while his mother was in the hospital from a nervous breakdown. He couldn't understand why his mom had been taken from him. He was raised by a single mom, along with his sisters. His Aunts helped in many ways when they could. They moved many times around the Denver area. He missed between 40 to 60 % in school attendance through the fourth grade because of health problems. He lost much of his hearing and was having difficulty pronouncing words. He went to speech school on a weekly basis. He taught himself by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing the numbers on the calendar. Bill's Uncle Howard enjoyed listening to the newscasts on his large RCA radio. He would have Bill listen with him and then he would try to explain to him what was happening. Bill remembers him saying on the day Germany invaded Poland that eventually we would be going to war against Germany. Bill feels he owes him a debt of gratitude for motivating him to learn to read and like history. One of his fondest memories was when Uncle Howard would drive his 1927 Chevy down to see his Grandpa and Grandma on their homestead down by Las Animas, Colorado. They lived in a sod and stone house built into the side of a low rise in the ground. Grandpa would walk with Bill and show him the bluff over which the sun came up in the morning. He drove him to town in his buckboard wagon. Grandpa was an important person in Bill's life. He was really the first man that Bill believed really loved him. Bill had a friend named Frank Ratcliff that he met in 2nd grade. His father treated him like a son. He taught him to do many things and even disciplined him when it was necessary. Bill and Frank did many things together. They were the typical boys with typical boy stuff to do. Bill has many stories about his boyhood that his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren love to hear. Bill was baptized 7 times. He loves to tell this story. He says he wonders if they took. I, as his wife, say “yes, Bill, They really did!!!” Bill developed the love of Baseball by playing in the Old Timer's Baseball League. He played second base and played games on many fields in Denver. He rode the streetcars for four cents and could get a transfer free. This gave him much more freedom. He would look for pop bottles to turn in for the 2 cents he could get for them. That is how he paid for his streetcar trips. Bill was mentored at the age of 10 by Fred Newton, a member of Cherry Hills Country Club. He would pick him up after school once a week in his green convertible coupe, and drove to Cherry Hills where Bill would caddy for him. After playing several holes, he would always take him up to the clubhouse, buy home a double dip orange sherbet cone, and take him home. In fourth grade, Bill had a teacher named Janet. She introduced him to fractions. He fell in love with fractions. Up to this time most of Bill's learning in arithmetic was self taught. His school attendance had been sporadic. Janet encouraged him to bring his baseball and glove to school and promised that she would let him have time to play catch each day and she would help him in school if he would start coming on a regular basis. She did and Bill did. His attendance has been excellent since that time. In fact Bill has attended school much of his adult life because he loves learning. One of his favorite comments to the kids is “Education never takes a vacation”. He often threatens his grandchildren he is going to go talk to Cindy Stephenson about their day off from school. At the age of 13, Bill had a Denver Post paper route that extended from Clay Street to Federal Blvd and 35th Avenue to 38th Avenue. He made 35 cents per subscriber per month and had about 100 subscribers on his route. Bill moved to Arvada in 1948 at the age of 14. When he registered for high school classes at Arvada High School, the school secretary asked him where he was going to college. Bill explained that he did not have money to go to college. Bill guessed that she assumed that because he had limited funds, he wasn't a good student. She put him in all of the lowest basic classes. During the second semester the Principal, Mr. Fitzmorris discovered that he had much more potential that wasn't being developed. He promised to get Bill into the advanced classes and help him get a scholarship if he would study hard. He changed his future. Bill graduated from Arvada High School in 1952 and received a one year, half tuition scholarship to Denver University where he later got his degree and became the teacher he was meant to be. Bill moved in with his sister, Rose, in Englewood while going to college. She lived in a very small home with her 4 children and husband, but she made room for her favorite brother, Bill. He had several jobs that first year. In the end his brother-in-law helped him get a job at Public Service. This job allowed him to have time to go to college and do his studying. During his second year in college, he met and then married Jamie Jacks in June of 1954. Bill and Jamie decided that if Bill were to finish his schooling, it would be a good idea for him to enlist in the Army for 3 years and receive the GI benefits. He entered the Army in January of 1955 and was eventually stationed in Fairbanks Alaska. In August, 1955 they had their first child, a little boy named Billy Jr... They all three went to Fairbanks in Oct. and lived there for a little over 2 years. They then had their second child, a little girl named Paula. After he got out of the Army in January of 1958, Bill and Jamie bought their first home in Arvada and Bill went back to DU to get his degree and graduated in 1960. They had their third child, a little girl named Judy, that same year. The fourth child, a little boy named Brook was born in 1965. Bill went to DU Law School after graduation. He decided in 1963 his true love was to be a teacher and got is first teaching job at Drake Jr. High where he taught for 10 years then became an assistant principal for the next 5 years. He then moved to Arvada Jr. High in 1977 where he was the Assistant Principal for the next 15 years. Bill fell in love with Jr. High age kids. He loved teaching them, coaching them, counseling them, etc. To this day his students still recognize him and say”Hi”. Bill will usually tell them that he remembers them, their name, and where they sat in his classroom. He remembers whole families. He made a big difference in thousands of kids' lives. Bill retired from Jefferson County Schools in 1992. The first year after retirement, I will give you 3 guesses what he did and the first 2 don't count. He went to CU in Boulder. He found he could audit classes for free if you are a senior citizen. The second year he began working again. He was working at the IRS when Oklahoma City bombing happened and decided he would rather live the rest of his life volunteering in the schools and work with the kids again and being a Grandpa. He volunteered at Foster Elementary for a few years until is health would not allow it any longer. Then he volunteered at Arvada High School helping students find scholarships so they could get in the college door like Mr. Fitzmorris helped him. After a few years, his health did not allow that either. In 2003 Bill was chosen to be Man of the Year in Arvada. What an honor. He was chosen for his volunteering and the starting of a program with the assistance of the Arvada Optimist Club called “Read to Me” for the students in 5 Elementary Schools. This is a program where books are sent home for the parents to read to their children. This includes approximately 750 students. He chose picture story books. He received funding through the Jefferson Foundation and The Salazar Family Foundation. The parents read to their children about 15 minutes a night from the same book for a week then the student returns the book to school and receives another book for the next week. The Arvada Optimist Club and The Lake Arbor Optimist Club do all the checking in and out of books each week. He also helped organize Arvada Wheat Ridge Ambassadors for Youth (AWRSAY) in 2001. AWRSAY is made up of service clubs in the Arvada, Wheat Ridge area, Red Rocks Community College, Jefferson County Schools, Businesses in the communities. AWRSAY recognizes students, grades 7 through 12, who have/are overcoming adversities in their lives. AWRSAY give 25 scholarships to Arvada and Wheat Ridge high school seniors. These scholarships allow the students the opportunity to attend Red Rocks Community College. Bill feels the benefits are: kids mentoring kids, schools partnering with businesses, cities working together, adults mentoring kids, cutting down on violence and hopelessness, and give value to those who feel they have no value. I think it is the only organization like this in the country where there is corroboration between so many different organizations. Also in 2003 Bill received the Minoru Yasui Award. This award honors individuals within the metropolitan area who have made outstanding and unique contributions through volunteerism. Bill was recognized for the “Read to Me” program and the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth. Bill was the Minoru Yasui Award recipient that was chosen to receive the Colorado Jefferson Award. The Jefferson Award is also for volunteerism. Bill and Jamie both went to Washington DC to receive this award in the summer of 2004. Bill is always studying. He truly believes that “the mind is a terrible thing to waste” Bill has now been married to Jamie for 58 years as of June 6, 2012. They have 4 children, 14 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Bill has touched thousands of lives and has made a difference in our world. I can't think of anything he would rather have named after him then a school library!!!