06/26/2025
Got home from training in a pond today and a Shelby Police officer pulled in just behind us. Thought it was odd that city police were here. The officer and I exchanged pleasantries and he asked about an address and if I knew where it was. I told him that is the address to the property behind us and that it was Johnny’s old place. He asked if he had any family still there and I explained that a few years ago his house burned down and he had been living in his car ever since. It finally hit me and I asked had Johnny passed away and he said he that he had.
Johnny was a 70 year black man that had owned the property behind for I guess around 50 years when we moved in. He lived in that old house by himself and would grow acres of watermelons and always had a big garden.
He was a pretty private man, but if he got to know you he was a nice a fellow as you’ll ever meet. He didn’t have a phone, so occasionally he would come down and ask if he could use the phone, but I’d have to dial it; he had no idea how to use a cell phone.
He loved ice cream sandwiches, so many times he would stop and get a box, eat two on his way home and then stop by and drop the rest of for our kids. There were times he would bring the kids produce, like bags of apples or a bunch of bananas. Everytime I would see him he would ask about our kids. Everytime he would come down the driveway he would stop as soon as he saw me and wait for me to wave him by, he wanted to be sure he didn’t run over a dog we had out.
Several times after a good snow I’d ride back on the 4-wheeler and make sure he had everything he needed to get by for a few days. One year we had a 4th of July party, we invited him and he, of course declined, but we saw him drive by that evening. I later found out he drove himself to the hospital while having a heart attack. I asked why he didn’t stop and let me take him or call an ambulance and he said “I didn’t want to bother you, you had folks over.”
I was truly saddened to hear of his passing, best we can guess is he was right around 90. I saw him a week or so ago, as he would still get mail in his mailbox, so he would come by occasionally to check it and we would wave or if I was down that way we would talk for a few minutes.
Several of us tried to talk with him about getting a place to live instead of his car, but he was a prideful old man and didn’t want any giving him any handouts, but it was always nice to see him at the mailbox.
Johnny is the kind of man many would consider a nobody, he wasn’t a prominent person in the community, he didn’t participate in social media, heck I don’t know how many people actually knew Johnny Roberts walked this earth. But he was the kind of man that would go out of his way to make a kind gesture for our children, or to always ask how Nicole was doing.
I just wanted to take a moment to let people know who Johnny was and that he was a kind man, a veteran, a good neighbor, he knew who Jesus was and wasn’t ashamed to say it. There won’t be posts all over social media about Johnny’s passing, but I felt he deserved at least one.
I’ll miss our random mailbox conversations Johnny.
