Clifford Kay Johnson passed away Friday, November 7, 2025 at the Missouri Veterans Home-Mt. Vernon. He was born February 23, 1933,  to Clifford and Caroline Roach Johnson in Grays Lake Village, Illinois.  He grew up on an Illinois dairy farm and graduated from North Boone High School in Capron, Illinois in 1951. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister and brother-in-law Faye & Bob Olson.

He is survived by his wife Betty, daughters Candy Hickman and Carol Betz, stepdaughters Sibyl James and husband Jeff, and Melanie Toler of Springfield, MO. and Libby Appel of Denver, grand children Molly, Lucy, Hagen (Jamie), Spencer, Tanner (Brittan), Ashley (Teddy), Maria and great grandson, Louis. Also surviving a niece Diane Olson of Sioux Falls, SD and nephew Robin Olson of Sioux City, IA.  He was preceded in death by grandson, Liam Appel.

Kay was a veteran of the U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne Division, 1952-1954. He moved to Missouri after he was discharged from the army.  He was married to Betty Toler in July, 1980.  He gained three daughters and thoroughly enjoyed the madness of all the women.

He was a lead carpenter and was involved with construction of a number of homes in Cinnamon Square working for Don Hopper Building Co. He later worked in sales for Seminole Decor. He made many friends at the paint store and was glad to help people with painting and decorating questions. He was known to take measurements very precisely.

Kay enjoyed nature photography and was a member of the Southwest Missouri Camera Club. He  was a volunteer photographer for "Day of Caring." Kay and Betty traveled to many places and they especially enjoyed visiting National Wildlife Refuges,  National Parks and Conservation areas for photography and birding.  He was a long time volunteer for Greater Ozarks Audubon and coordinated  the volunteer project on South Creek. He spent many hours planning, planting, cleaning and trimming the Audubon section of South Creek to maintain it as a natural area.  He was awarded the City of Springfield "Gift of Time" in the environmental category, for 2001.

He volunteered for The Nature Conservancy at the Wah'Kon-Tah Prairie near Eldorado Springs, MO and was awarded the volunteer of the year award 2001 for the State of Missouri. In 2012 he received the Grow Native Ambassador Award from the Missouri Prairie Foundation.  He had a great love for the prairies as was evidenced by the time he spent growing prairie wildflowers from seed and making other people aware of the importance of prairies.  As a conservationist, he believed that everyone should conserve resources and be aware that all living things on the earth are important and be mindful that everything is interrelated.

His latest cause after he became a Master Gardener was to organize and begin the greenhouse project at Hickory Hills School.  He had a special interest in growing native plants.  He had a large crew of volunteers at the school and worked with children educating them about growing vegetables to eat, learning about butterflies, and the importance of pollinating insects. For seven years, he could be found almost every weekday morning working at the greenhouse on the roof of the school.  When he retired from the greenhouse project, Hickory Hills School honored him by naming the the greenhouse and gardens, "Kay Johnson's Greenhouse and Gardens".

He will be cremated and a memorial visitation will be at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home Saturday, November 29, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. In lieu of flowers donations can made to Ozarks Food Harvest, 2810 N. Cedarbrook Ave. Springfield, MO 65803