Jimmie Andrew (Jim) Johnson, former President and owner of Progress Container Corp., Winder, Georgia, passed away on Friday, May 8. He was 84.
Jim was born on the family farm in Grayson, Georgia, on April 25, 1936. He graduated from Snellville High School and lived in Snellville, Georgia for many years. As a young man he became an accomplished salesperson in the printing industry. In the 1960s he went to work for a corrugated box plant in Conyers, Georgia, where he thrived in selling packaging in the north Georgia market. In 1971, he opened Progress Container Corporation in Lilburn, Georgia. The company focused on high customer service and quality, then moved in 1974 to a new facility in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Along the way the business expanded to provide high graphics packaging along with industrial packaging, and the name was changed to Progress Container & Display. The business outgrew the Lawrenceville property and in 2000 moved to its current campus in Winder, Georgia, where it is still owned by the Johnson family.
He is survived by his wife Jane; his children Janna Johnson, Jimmie Johnson, Jr., Jo Johnson, and Jill J. Barnes; sisters Ruth J. Smith, Brenda J. Robbins and brother-in-law Marvin Burton; and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
