Memorial services for Johnnie Olen Andrews, 79, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, will be 11 A.M. Friday, June 2, 2023, at Forever Memories Funeral Services, 463505 SH 101, in Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

On May 18^, 2023, heaven needed a cowboy, and Jesus called this ole cowboy home. Johnnie was born to John Calvin and Mary Ruth (Langely) Andrews on November 09, 1943. He was born and raised in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. While growing up, hard work was not unfamiliar to him and his brothers; they started at an early age helping with the farm. After graduating high school in 1962, college wasn’t for this cowboy. Instead, he enlisted with the United States Air Force. His time in the Air Force was spent in Vietnam, where he was part of a helicopter rescue team. After his tour in Vietnam, he headed back to Oklahoma. He found work in Oklahoma City, for an airline, as a mechanic for jet engines. Not caring much for city life, he headed for Arizona, craving that quieter cowboy life and that is precisely what he found. Johnnie was a ranch foreman for a 4,800-acre cattle ranch. He spent long days on horseback, rounding up cattle, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. Johnnie often reminisced on these days with his loved ones, and one of our favorites he shared with us was when he and a few other hands flew a plane to Africa full of cattle. Eventually, the time came when his mother needed him back home in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, to help with their farm again. Without hesitation, he came home. Once he was back in Sallisaw, he worked for the State of Oklahoma as a Senior Livestock Inspector and retired after 20 years.

Johnnie met the love of his life, Toni Smith, and married her on February 1. 1989.

Johnnie was a loving father figure to his granddaughters, Tara and Tasha. He thoroughly enjoyed introducing the cowboy way of life to them and spent countless hours in the Sequoyah County Fairgrounds barn, which he helped bring to Sallisaw.

Johnnie is survived by his stepdaughters, Tammy and Buddy Spaunhurst and Kim Hatfield, and his adopted foster son, David Becktold. His grandchildren; are Jessica Ellis, Tara and Travis Alzate, Tasha and Seth Stites, Stephan, Heather Smith, and Lindsay Mays. His great-grandchildren, Kristina Jones, Bobby Dean, Emalee, Jastin, and Kamree Alzate, Landen Pearl, Ryan, and Kayden Stites; Connor, JoHanna, and Bennett Smith, Devon, Damon, and Darren Mays; His siblings, Tommy and Kathy Andrews, and Juanita Tomberlin.

Johnnie is preceded in death by his parents, his stepdaughter, Natalie Bustamante, and his brother, Paul Andrews.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, Friday, June 2, 2023, in the Sequoyah Memorial Chapel, at Forever Memories Funeral Services, in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, with Joe Alzate officiating. A private burial will be held at Fort Smith National Cemetery.

“And if Heaven needs a cowboy
They’re gettin’ the top hand
One good horse on a thousand hills
He’ll be ridin’ for the brand
And if the Pearly Gates can’t hold the cattle
He’ll get ’em roped and tied
I hope there’s a piece of the Promised Land for cowboys when they die.”

Arrangements are under the direction of Forever Memories Funeral Services of Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

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