Math teacher
Jimmie Lee Johnson, 83, of Oak Park, died in the early morning on Jan. 19, 2025. Born on April 12, 1941 in Hobart, Oklahoma, he attended high school in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he was a Civil Air Patrol cadet. After graduating high school in 1959, he studied at New Mexico State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and a master’s degree in 1966. He met Nancy while at New Mexico State and they married in June 1965. They had their first and only child, David R. Johnson in April 1967.
He taught mathematics at a junior high school in Las Cruces from 1966 to 1967. The family moved north to Moorhead, Minnesota in 1967 where Jimmie taught mathematics at Concordia College until 1970, then decided to pursue his doctorate in Mathematics, with a focus on Analysis at University of Illinois Chicago Circle (UIC), so the family moved to Chicago in 1970, and eventually to Oak Park in 1977.
He obtained his PhD in Mathematics in 1976, and a master’s degree in Computer Science in 1980, both from UIC, and taught math at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee from 1976 to 1979, then math and computer science at Roosevelt University Chicago & Schaumburg from 1980 until retiring in 2010.
His hobbies included reading books: the history of the west, Scandinavian sagas, science fiction, and mysteries, listening to old-time radio shows, and learning different languages.
Jimmie is survived by wife, Nancy Johnson; his son, David R. Johnson (Charles Craig). He was predeceased by his father, James L. Johnson, and his mother, Emily Johnson, both of Agra, Oklahoma.
Remembrance has been scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Oak Park Conservatory, 615 Garfield St., Oak Park, IL 60304