ZEBULON - On the evening of November 21, 2015, Stephen Lee Johnson stepped into the presence of his Lord and Savior. Nick, Bill and I stood amazed by God's grace as we prayed and gave thanks for the Godly man, husband and father he had grown to be. "All things work for good to those who are called according to His purposes." Hearing Nick's beautiful voice singing praises to his heavenly Father while holding his earthly father's hand is a precious affirmation of the truth of God's promise. I will be forever grateful.

Steve was born March 2, 1959 in Roanoke, Virginia to William Christopher Johnson, Sr. and Beulah Virginia Minton Johnson. His family moved to Raleigh in the mid-sixties, making their home in the Brentwood community. Steve loved his neighborhood and the lifelong friends made there.

A talented athlete at Millbrook High School, Steve received football and baseball scholarship offers. He chose Guilford College, where he played football until a serious injury side lined his sports career. After graduation, Steve joined the City of Raleigh Police Department where he served with distinction for twenty years. He retired August of 2001.

In the early morning hours of September 16, 2001, he surrendered his life to the Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Afterwards, he would proclaim, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) The apostle Paul spoke these words. Steve Johnson lived them.

Steve graduated from South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in December, 2006 with a Master of Divinity with Evangelism and Biblical Languages. He shared the Gospel of Christ to all who would listen and some who would rather have not. He served as a lay minister at Hephzibah Baptist Church where he taught youth and adult Sunday School, adult Bible study and his favorite "Share Jesus without Fear" evangelism classes. He served his community with Dew4Him Prison Ministry and Hephzibah Baptist Men's Association, stateside in Philadelphia and rural Kentucky and internationally in Honduras, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova.

Steve is survived by his wife of nearly twenty-five years, Lynette Dean Johnson; his sons, Nicholas Alexander Johnson and Matthew Walker Johnson; his sister, Ginny Hughes of Richmond, Virginia, and her son Jason and his family; his brother Bill Johnson and his daughters Katrina, Megan and Caitlin and their families; his sisters-in-law: Melissa and her daughter, Taylor and her family, Paula, her husband Patrick and their children: Hope, Logan, Dean.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Christopher Lee Johnson; his nephew Preston Ferguson, his brother-in-law, Mike Hughes, and his mother and father-in-law, Jeannette Mincey and Richard Paul Dean, Jr.

A service to celebrate his life was held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at Hephzibah Baptist Church Family Life Center, 1794 Wendell Blvd., Wendell, North Carolina 27591, with Pastor Aaron Wallace and Pastor Bill Johnson officiating. Burial followed at Gethsemane Memorial Gardens, 809 W. Gannon Avenue, Zebulon, North Carolina 27597. The family received relatives and friends from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday, November 23, 2015 at L. Harold Poole Funeral Service & Crematory, 944 Old Knight Road, Knightdale, NC 27545 and other times at the home.

The family would suggest memorial contributions be made in Steve's memory to Hephzibah Baptist Church Mission Fund and Dew4Him Women's Prison Ministry.

Condolences to the family may be sent to poolefuneral.com under Obituaries.