Howard Johnson was a great man.

That thought was repeated several times during Johnson’s memorial service Saturday morning at North Bend High School.

The range of Johnson’s impact was visible in the variety of mourners among the roughly 1,000 people at the service. They included players and fellow coaches from his two decades as head football coach at North Bend High School, coworkers from his tenure at the school, people who have worked side-by-side with him on community projects, uniformed personnel from the Coos County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, and fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many of the team’s current players also attended, and stood out because they wore their jerseys.

The speakers at the service described the aspects of Johnson’s character that made him so special to so many.

“There’s no way I can come up here and tell you all the different ways that Howard affected people,” said Paul Munson, who played for Johnson at North Bend. “His enthusiasm was infectious. He made us as a program, and us as people, believe we could compete with anyone and win.”

When Johnson arrived in 1971, the Bulldogs were in a slump, but he led North Bend to the playoffs seven times in his 22 seasons, and continued to help the school even after retiring.

“Howard was the springboard to this program’s success now,” Munson said. “He defined what Bulldog Pride Inside was.”

Johnson’s son, Mike, also talked about football, and playing quarterback for his father, and mentioned, in particular, that Johnson was a “gracious winner” who never ran up the score on any opponent, even though the Bulldogs were regularly pounded his first two years.

In the final game of the 1974 season, the Bulldogs were playing Marshfield for the league title and led 28-14 late and had a chance to score again.

“He wouldn’t let us score,” Mike said. “He made me take a knee. As you know, against the Pirates, that was tough.”

But that was Johnson’s way.

Munson recalled Johnson having only a few team rules, “make a sincere effort in the classroom, don’t lie, cheat or steal, and don’t ever do anything to embarrass yourself in the community or the school.”

Because of Johnson, he said, North Bend’s players always dressed well for road games and the school was widely respected on road trips.

“We were respectful,” he said. “Nonsense on the field wasn’t allowed and was taken care of quickly.”

Terri Turi, who was married to one of Johnson’s sons, said that he found fun in everything he did, including coaching and community service, and that “his glass was always half full.”

“The shining light of his memory will live with all of us,” she said. “It will give us a smile or two. It will give us a tear or two — or three. It’s going to give us much comfort for a long time.”

Turi borrowed a slogan from Nike — Just Do It — and said that’s how Johnson lived his life.

“He was so committed, so disciplined, so dedicated to the things that were important to him,” Turi said. “He led us all by example.”

Dick Johnson, Howard’s younger brother, spoke of growing up in Montana, when Howard was a standout in any sport he tried, including football, basketball, baseball, track and field, tennis and even boxing. He also was a natural leader in school, had a major role in school plays and sang in a barbershop quartet.

Dick also spoke of Howard’s love for family, and his love for the church, and said Howard took pride in being able to baptize his younger sister, Paula Joy Connor, when she was 8 years old.

The latter parts of Saturday’s service focused on Johnson’s involvement in the Mormon Church, where he had served as a bishop on the local level and stake president for the region ranging from Florence to the California border.

Church was always important to Johnson, his son, Mike, said.

“His qualities of integrity and honesty were truly Christ-like,” he said. “One scripture that would characterize my dad’s life would be: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Church members Bill Bacon, Ralph Brooks and Jim Moyer talked about the church and Howard’s role in it.

“The thing that made Howard special is he had the principle of love for people,” Bacon said. “That came from his love for the Savior.”

Johnson was a leader in the church and helped the other leaders do their jobs better, Bacon said.

“Because of his example, he inspired all of us to do the best we could do,” Bacon said.

“A lot of you know him as coach,” Brooks said. “He was my spiritual coach and my spiritual leader.”

Moyer offered similar thoughts, and said Johnson loved his role in the church, recalling a conversation.

“He said, ‘When I was younger, I wanted to be a great coach, and now I want to be known as a man of God,’” Moyer said.

After the memorial service in the gymnasium, nearly 20 members of the Sheriff’s Posse led the procession to the Ocean View Memory Gardens, including one who rode on his horse and led Johnson’s horse, which had carried him in many parades and other activities of the group, but carried just flowers in his memory on Saturday.

North Bend, Coos Bay and Oregon State police assisted with traffic control during the procession and a North Bend fire truck was included in the line of vehicles following the posse.

Johnson, who was 72, is survived by his wife, Mary Mae, his brother and sister, three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.