Albert Ralph Johnson
June 12, 1929 - August 30, 2012
Obituary
One of our hardest working community leaders, Pastor Albert Ralph Johnson has passed away quietly in his home on Thursday, August 30, 2012 after a long fight with cancer at the age of 83. His life will be celebrated on Saturday, September 15, 2012.
Ralph was born to Edward and Aveline Johnson on June 12, 1929, in a little town in Oregon called “Bunker Hill”, near Marshfield, later renamed “Coos Bay.” He was the oldest of fourteen surviving children.
At 15, Ralph was baptized into Christ and began a fervent study of the Bible. He was a member of the Marshfield Church of Christ under the leadership of Clarence Oxenrider.
In 1948 Ralph went to Bible College in San Jose, California and later attended Midwestern School of Evangelism where he eventually received Bachelor of Sacred Literature and Bachelor of Theology degrees.
In the fall of 1950, Ralph was asked to minister in Abingdon, Iowa, a few miles east of Ottumwa. There he met and married Helen Nordyke, Dec. 23, 1951. While there a daughter, Barbara, was born. His ministry continued there until 1954.
Ralph was ordained as Evangelist at Hamburg Iowa, Church of Christ by Dale Knowles, March 28, 1954 with recommendation of his home congregation, the Coos Bay Oregon Church of Christ.
In 1954, Ralph and Gene Boulton from California teamed up with Frank Campbell from Oregon and moved their families to Seattle to begin planting churches in the Washington State area. Ralph and family were the first to arrive with less than five dollars to their name and an old 1932 Diamond T truck used to haul their belongings. They purchased a home on 4th Avenue in Burien. Ralph found work at Serv-U-Grocery on the corner of First Ave. South and 136th. Later that summer he began work at Kaiser Gypsum Company, where he worked for the next 9 years. His family grew in this home to four children, two boys and two girls, Barbara, David, Janet and James.
The Winters became the first members of the church which met in their living room. They continued meeting there until Frank Campbell arrived and bought a house a couple of blocks north and around the corner. In the summer of 1955 they rented McMicken Heights Improvement club for Sunday services.
In the fall of 1955 they located a small but very nice church building with knotty cedar board interior at 13045 42nd Ave. S., down in the old Riverton area, just south of the Duwamish River. On January 8, 1960, the church was incorporated as the Riverton Church of Christ. Later Ralph purchased the house next door to the church building for the parsonage. On September 1, 1967, Ralph was put on full time ministry.
September of 1975, the Riverton Church had grown to where a larger building was needed so they purchased a new building and became known as Glen Acres Church of Christ at 11401 10th Ave. S in Burien. September, 1976, the parsonage next door at on 14th Ave. S. was purchased for use of the Johnsons. Ralph and Helen lived in this home until his passing last month.
Ralph’s is survived by his loving wife and devoted companion of 60+ years Helen M. (Nordyke) Johnson.
For a more detailed account of Ralph’s ministry history, please visit: http://glenacres.org/about.htm
My deepest condolences to brother Ralph Johnson’s wife, his children, his family, the church he served in, and to all knew him. I am very thankful for his life and his influence.
We live and die in the hope of the resurrection (1 Thess. 4:14-18).
May the Lord hold each of you close and comfort you as only He can (2 Cor. 1:3).
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” — Psalm 116:15
“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” — Revelation 14:13
We thank the Lord for putting this faithful brother along our path via CLIX and latter on as our Men’ Retreat speaker at the 10th St Church of Christ in NYC and as a guess in his home in Seattle.
We enjoyed his clear scriptural teachings. He has entered into the joy of the Lord with Jesus and can rest from his labors.
Our deepest love goes out to Hellen and the Chruch family at Glenn Acres.
Love in Jesus,
Keith S. Canton
Evangelist 10th Street
Church of Christ
My deepest condolences to the Johnson family for the loss of this extraordinary man. It was an honor to get to know him and witness his gracious strength and faith.
Ralph was used by the Lord in a mighty way. I was almost hood winked into joining the Jehovahs witnesses until Ralph took the time to show me the falseness of their teachings. He baptized me, was used to bring my boyfriend to Christ and married us. Under Ralphs pastoring, I now have a ministry to witness to Jehovahs witnesses and I am a counselor working with substance abuse and teaching them to follow the Lord.