Love of electronics led Johnson to Mideast

EAGLESWOOD TOWNSHIP, N.J. – As a boy, Paul Johnson Jr. showed a keen interest in electronics that would eventually lead him far from the world he knew in this rural New Jersey community.

Nicknamed “Eagle,” Johnson tinkered with toy cars and transistor radios for amusement. That passion for electronics put him on a career path to the Air Force, Lockheed Martin in Florida, then to contracting work in Saudi Arabia – and a new culture that he heartily embraced.

On Friday, Johnson’s body was found near Riyadh, where he had worked as a field engineer supporting the Apache helicopter program.

Friends described him as an “electronics genius.” They said he rigged electric toy cars to go faster and once turned a transistor radio into a beeper, then left it in a library as a prank.

Johnson “had his goal,” said his cousin, Sue Holmes. “He didn’t let anything get in his way, but he was still loving and caring,” she said. “He was unique… . I’d be going out the back door to skip school, and he’d be studying.”

Johnson graduated from high school in 1973 and decided to join the Air Force.

Johnson moved to Florida in the early 1980s to work for Lockheed Martin. He’d lived in Saudi Arabia for the past 10 years, most recently working on targeting and night-vision systems for Apache helicopters.

“He felt he never had any fear for his safety,” said Johnson’s son, Paul Johnson III, a drywall contractor in Port St. John, Fla. He added that his father respected and honored the traditions and cultures there. “Dad said many times he loved living in Saudi Arabia.”

The elder Johnson once sent a copy of the Quran to his sister and highlighted passages from the Islamic holy text to indicate their importance.

“He had no fear over there,” said Holmes. “He fit in there like he did here. He loved it. He loved his job.”

Johnson was married to Thanom Johnson, a native of Thailand. The two were building a house in her homeland, relatives said.