From The Olio

Edward Theodore Johnson, Jr
3142 Ashwood Road, Cleveland 20, Ohio
Prepared at Western Reserve Academy
Fine Arts,
Chi Psi,
Soccer 1,2, Track "1962" 2
Deceased October 6, 2018

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In Memory

Edward T. Johnson Jr. died on October 6th, 2018, after a very long and valiant battle with cancer. Ed was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 20th, 1940, to the late Dr. Edward T. and Camille Johnson. He was also preceded in death by his only child, daughter Brittany, and his wife of 25 years Charlette BrownJohnson. He is survived by his beloved sister Judyann Elder, television and movie actress, and his brother James, a writer.

Before Amherst, Ed was the first black boarding student at the exclusive Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, where he was an outstanding scholar and athlete. Although the Johnsons lived less than two miles away from us in Cleveland, I didn’t meet Ed until we both had summer jobs with the Cleveland City Planning Commission, where he greatly enjoyed working with surveys of land use, housing quality and other issues; this may have helped propel him toward his career in architecture.

At Amherst, Ed became a Fine Arts major; he pledged Chi Psi and lettered in track. He was also very active playing piano at mixers and parties throughout the three college campuses. On Sundays, he really enjoyed playing the Stearns Steeple carillon. After graduation, Ed took a degree in architecture at Yale; after a few years of apprenticeship at illustrious organizations in Boston, he established his own firm and worked on many projects in Boston.

After his academic pursuits, Ed pledged one of the major black national fraternities, Omega Psi Phi, and was very active in the chapter, as well as leading youth programs for his church. His architectural masterpiece, a three-level home for a retiring Boston doctor, overlooking the Caribbean in St. Croix, remains under construction, but Ed was thrilled to work with progress pictures and reports until the end.

--Lowell Henry’62