Shirley Melton Johnson, the wife of longtime U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson of North Texas, has died.
Shirley Johnson died Thursday in Texas. She was 85. The GOP congressman's office Friday didn't immediately provide additional details on her death. Funeral arrangements were pending.
The couple married in 1950 when both were seniors at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Sam Johnson served 29 years in the Air Force and was a POW during the Vietnam War when his plane was shot down in 1966. Shirley Johnson was involved with POW support groups. Her husband was held for nearly seven years.
He retired from the military in 1979 and the Johnsons started a home building company in Plano. Their family includes three children and 10 grandchildren.
Johnson was elected to Congress in 1991.
