Bill “Tiny” Johnson, who died Feb. 7 at age 66, devoted a large part of his last 20 years to his duties as a Shriner, taking special pride in the parades where he drove a car that bucked and spun on two wheels.
The car, a modified 1926 Model T named Leapin’ Lena, was a perennial crowd-pleaser at Shriner events. Seated in the car, with his latest fez sparkling atop his shiny pate, Johnson made the car cavort on its back wheels by energetically working its five pedals.
The louder onlookers cheered, the broader his grin became.
“Bill took to that thing like a duck to water,” said his friend and fellow Shriner Chuck Noah. “That car was one of his favorite things. He loved to drive it, and he did all the maintenance on it. He was a mechanically minded guy. He could look at things and figure them out. Some people just have that knack.”
At his memorial service, Shriner Jim Long illustrated that knack by recalling the time a group of Shriners were working on a trebuchet, a medieval French launching device. While an engineer in the group figured out the fulcrum and other technical aspects on paper, Johnson quietly assembled the device.
“He had a scientific imagination,” Long said. “Bill could look at a piece of upholstery material and a chair and say, ‘Well, you’d just cut it out here, and stitch it there, and it’s done.’ “
By trade, Johnson specialized in upholstery. He worked on furniture but preferred to re-upholster cars. He specialized in older vehicles, beginning with a Model A he bought and restored when he was 16 years old. The family still has that car; his son, Evan, drove it to his senior prom.
The Johnsons still have the 1958 Chevrolet that he restored, along with other cars, trucks and race cars. He was fond of stock-car racing, which occupied a lot of his free time until Johnson joined the Shriners in 1993.
Johnson’s nickname, “Tiny,” was antithetical: He was nearly 6-foot-6 and weighed more than 300 pounds. He liked to cook and was particularly fond of supervising pig roasts, along with grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, at Shriner picnics. One time, he roasted a piece of bear meat.
“We cut it up in real small pieces and took it around so everyone could try some,” Noah said. “Most of them were real appreciative. I tried it myself. I thought it was a little stringy.”
Survivors include his wife, Drina Johnson of Denver; daughters Ginger Shoffner of Aurora and Penny Lascolette of Frederick, Md.; son Evan Michael Johnson of Billings, Mont.; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
