Rodney Wayne Johnson was born October 15, 1935 in Knoxville, Iowa the son of Rodney H. and Mernia Myretta (Shimp) Johnson.
Wayne attended Knoxville schools and as a young man he worked for the Nash family in their logging and lumber yard business. He was united in marriage to Sharon Nash in 1961. Wayne served in the United States Army during Vietnam and subsequently in the National Guard. He was also deployed during Operation Desert Storm. Wayne retired from military service at the rank of CW3 after 34 years of faithful service to the United States. He was awarded the Purple Heart of Valor for his meritorious conduct. He was a truck driver for Paxton Woods for most of his life, and retired from Jeld-Winn in 2005.
In his spare time, Wayne enjoyed woodworking. He was a longtime member and served as Clerk for the Church of God. He and Sharon took many trips to church meetings and conventions across the United States.
Wayne passed away on Veteran’s Day Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at West Ridge Specialty Care, in Knoxville, at the age of 91 years.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Sue Wilson and a grandson, Jordan Kirtley.
Those left to honor Wayne memory include his wife, Sharon; children: Sherry (Jay) Weldon, Robin (Karl) Kloster and Bryan (Kelly) Johnson; grandchildren: Megan (Brett) Kingery, Jarin (Jenna) Weldon, Natasha (Bryce) Kirtley, Jordan (Chelsea) Kingery, Jacob (Kelsey) Johnson, Zach Johnson and Kaden Kloster; great-grandchildren: Zander, Kamryn, Jaylee, Jaydan, Brant, Mya, Easton, Harper, Maddux, Nash, Koehn, Jax, Kaleb and Kelby; brother, Ted Johnson and many other family members and friends.