Cecil Marcus Johnston was born July 17, 1925, in Wagoner County, OK to Frank and Cora Johnston and died March 6, 2013, at Inverness Village, Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated from Daniel Webster High School in 1943, where he played the coronet in the band and made life long friends. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps that year, where he served as a radio operator on C47 aircraft until discharge in 1946. He returned to finish college with the help of the GI bill, attending TU and graduating from Oklahoma State A&M (OSU) with a degree in physics. Later he earned a Masters in Education from TU. At TU he met his wife to-be, Joan Tucker, and they married in 1948. After graduation he and Joan returned to Tulsa where, he taught at Webster until 1958, when he was hired as a teacher and principal in the Department of Defense overseas school system. He had tours of duty in the Azores, Bermuda, England, Washington D.C. and Pensacola, Florida. He valued education and his schools, students and teachers. He was promoted to Superintendent and eventually to Deputy Budget Director for Atlantic division overseas schools. He retired in 1986, to Pensacola where he and Joan lived until they moved back to Tulsa in 1994, to be near family. He could fix, build or restore about anything, possibly as a result of growing up on an oiI lease during the depression. He was an amateur photographer. He loved music and built his own sound systems, TVs and computers. He restored boats and generally kept everything in perfect condition. He was an avid old car enthusiast and restored a number of cars to mint condition, winning some national first place awards. He made loyal friends all of his life to whom he showed kindness and hospitality. His sense of fun, adventure, curiosity and inventiveness endeared him to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his loving wife Joan, after 60 years of marriage. He was also predeceased by his parents, Frank and Cora Johnston and his brothers, Warren Franklin and Voris Glen Johnston. He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Byers, daughters, Jackie Neel and husband, Richard, Laura Taylor and husband Christopher, grandchildren, Andrew Neel and wife Summer, Joshua Neel and wife Lindsay, Paul Neel and wife Macollvie, Leigh Taylor, Katie Taylor, Maddie Taylor, great-grandchildren; Claire Neel, Addison Neel and Eve Neel and many loving nieces and nephews. We, his family, would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of his caretakers at Inverness Retirement Village for his care, always dispensed with compassion, respect, hope, and dignity. His honesty, love, humor, work, courage and faith made the world a better place. His family could have no better legacy. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to one of the following: Daniel Webster Alumni Foundation, P.O. Box 9824, Tulsa, OK 74157, UNICEF, or the Conununity Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Visitation is at Stanley’s Funeral Service, 3959 E. 31st, Friday March 8, 4:30-6:30 PM. Memorial Service will be at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, at 10 am, on Saturday March 9, 2013. Please visit Cecil’s online obituary at StanleysFuneralHome.com 918-743-6271 StanleysFuneralHome.com This obituary was published in the Tulsa World on 3/8/2013.
