Alvin William Johnston, 101, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, May 30, 2026. Mr. Johnston was saved 83 years ago on May 27, 1943, at the First Baptist Church of Waynesburg, PA. his family church. He was an active witness for Jesus Christ, giving away hundreds of gospel tracks up until his passing.

Mr. Johnston was born on November 24, 1924, to the late Austin W. and Mary Pettit Johnston. He is survived by his son, Pastor Tom Johnston (Joyce) of Opp, Alabama; and his brother Kenneth Johnston, a retired USN petty officer of Walterboro, SC.

He was predeceased in death by his wife, Jo Lee R. Johnston on November 16, 2022, his son, Terence Lee Johnston of Simpsonville, SC in 2015, and his younger brother, George Myron Johnston, at the age of 5.

Alvin was known as Captain AL who had a great 44-year career as an airplane pilot. Capt. AL loved life and never took it too seriously. He was a very calm person and enjoyed cracking jokes often. He had a happy, cheerful countenance in all life situations.

His interest in aviation began in grade school with model airplanes. Then he got to fly for the first time at age 15 and he was hooked. As a teenager he worked at an airport three miles from his home washing airplanes, refueling and other odd jobs in exchange for 10-15 minutes of flight instruction per week. He was the youngest person who ever received flight training at the Greene County airport. He soloed for the first time in a Piper Cab, on his 16th birthday, November 24, 1940, in between snow squalls from a grass strip in Waynesburg, PA., and obtained his private pilot's license.

After high school, he was drafted into the Army. Upon arriving at boot camp, he showed them his private pilot’s license, and they sent him to the Air Corp.

Uncle Sam required two years of higher education which they paid for at NC State College in flight training. From there he was transferred to Randolph Field (West Point of the air at that time) for instruction and instrument training. He graduated as a flight officer from Texas training. He was an air force pilot for three years spending the rest of his military career in Texas Training Gis how to fly. He was honorably discharged in April of 1945.

After his army duty he began knocking on airline doors for work, they all wanted multi-engine time and he had none. He operated at 2 flight schools Greene County and Glen Dale, West Virginia, Airfields training ex Gis flying, and flew corp. charters. He flew DC3s, 6S, 7S, 8S, Viscounts and Boeing 737s and the 727, his favorite airplane.

Captain AL worked for Aire Ambulance associated with the Kepner Funeral Home, West Virginia for ten years. After this position he was hired as a co-pilot for Capital Airways, which merged with United Airways, and was promoted to Captain in 1961. He retired from United at the age of 60 with about 30,000 hours of accident-free flying.

Alvin married Jo Lee in 1951, who is now deceased. They were married for 71 years. Capt. Al and Jo Lee moved to Lake Keowee in 1985. Where he enjoyed boating and swimming. He was also an avid golfer. In 2014 the Johnstons moved to Belvedere Independent Living in Seneca, SC which he truly enjoyed.

Capt. Al loved the Lord Jesus Christ and told many others about him. His favorite scripture verses were Psalm 23, which he memorized.

Funeral services will be held on June 3, 2026 at Oconee Memorial Park Mausoleum Chapel at 10:00AM. Rev. Thomas Johnston will be officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the Entombment at 9:30AM. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Onycha Baptist Church, P.O. Box 83, Opp., AL. 36467 to the missionary fund. 

Brown Funerals is assisting the family.