Palestine High School Alumni Association

Hoyt Johnston

06 / 10 / 1922  –  04 / 25 / 2002

Services for Hoyt Johnston, 79, of Palestine, will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bailey & Foster Chapel with Dan Manuel officiating. Burial will be at Roselawn Park.

Mr. Johnston died Thursday at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler.

He was born June 10, 1922 in Sand Springs to V.M. Johnston and Morelle Cone Johnston.

Mr. Johnston was a 1939 graduate of Palestine High School. He was a U.S. Navy veteran serving from Sept. 1942 to 1945, and then with the Marines from 1950 to 1953. During his service to his country he earned numerous medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Navy Commendation Ribbon.

Mr. Johnston graduated from Baylor Law School in 1954. He practiced law in Palestine from 1954 until his death.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Joan Johnston, in 1961; and a brother, Cone Johnston.

Mr. Johnston is survived by sons, Robert David Johnston and James Hoyt Johnston, both of Palestine; a sister, Lillie Mathison of Palestine; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Jim Liles, Donald Seale, Raymond Dowdy, Guy Alford, Bascom Bentley, and Christopher Kolstad.

Honorary pallbearers will be Jack Schwab, Jim Crook, William George, and members of the Anderson County Bar Association.

Condolence calls will be received from 6 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Source: Palestine Herald-Press 04-27-2002