Pete Johnson – A Heart of Gold

BY JACLYN ROSE –

One of the things that makes small town communities great are the people, those who are willing to contribute their time, knowledge and resources to improve society.  In many instances, individuals give what they can amongst their other obligations, and on rare occasions, someone comes along who gives on an even greater scale.  Pete Johnson is one who has given his entire career to improving the lives of Polk County citizens, and even in his retirement, continues his dedicated service.

Johnson moved to Mena in 1965 at the age of 17.  Soon after he enrolled in college at Arkansas Tech University but then took some time off to enlist in the Army National Guard.  After completing basic training and advanced individual training (AIT) he went on to complete his degree in History and Political Science from Henderson State University.

In 1969, Johnson married Linda, the love of his life.  “Linda and I like each other in addition to loving each other.  We have the same ideas about our faith and Christianity and what we ought to do with our lives and that really helped bond us in our marriage.  We have two children, Emily and Lori, and four grandchildren who are great fun,” explained Johnson.

Johnson began his career with the Department of Human Services (DHS) in 1971, where he would continue to work for the next 38 years before retiring four years ago.  “I started out as a case worker in Prescott, in south Arkansas for two years before transferring to Polk County as a case worker.  After a year and a half the department was reorganized and transferred to Fort Smith, where we spent almost seven years.  In 1980, I came back to Polk County as a County Director.  Here I supervised everything from the assistance programs to child welfare, abused and neglected children, and helped with the foster program.  In 1986, the department was reorganized again and I continued to supervise public assistance but no longer the child welfare program,” explained Johnson.

Through the years, Johnson saw many different programs come and go and through these programs saw a lot of success for local individuals seeking to better themselves and their situations.  “Late 90’s welfare reform provided an array of services for people who wanted to become self-sufficient.  Additionally, Rich Mountain Community College was a wonderful resource for local citizens. There were times that I was able to hire employment specialists to work with local employers to put people to work.  There was a lot of success with some of these programs but like lots of government funding, it fades.  We taught classes on survival skills for women that allowed them to go from not working to becoming employable.  This gave empowerment to women. It was a good program, government money well spent.  Once a single parent becomes employed and off of public assistance it provides a positive environment for their family and their children,” explained Johnson.

After retiring from DHS, Johnson has continued to serve the citizens of Polk County by providing his unique array of knowledge and compassion to several local organizations that work towards the greater good.  Johnson serves on the Board for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that provides a voice to children in the foster system.  He also serves on the Board for the Salvation Army, PCDC, and the Single Parent Scholarship Program.  “All of these programs provide great resources for the people who go through DHS and they are all so important in Polk County.  With a community our size we are so lucky to have places like PCDC who do such great things for our community and I believe the leadership at each of these organizations is the best there could possibly be.  One of the things we are currently working on with PCDC is the Talimena 13.1 Run and Relay that is coming up next month.  It is a very important fundraiser to help keep the programs running for the mentally and physically challenged,” explained Johnson.

In his retirement, Johnson has also found time to do a lot with his family, he also enjoys playing a little golf, gardening with the grandkids and quite a bit of trail running.  “I like doing outdoors stuff and I think it’s a really great comfort to live in a place where you like a lot of people and enjoy the area.  Most of the country would give anything to come to a place like Polk County for a little while,” Johnson said.

About Author

Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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