RICHARD A. JOHNSON Jr.

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RICHARD JOHNSON Obituary

JOHNSON, Richard A. Jr. Age 84, of Lantana, FL, and formerly of Newton Centre, MA, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, August 4th, 2016. He is preceded in death by his wife of 54 years Joan Myers Johnson. Dick moved to Lantana in 2009 as he had strong ties to Palm Beach, his parents Myna and Dick Johnson having been longtime residents of Manalapan and members of the Everglades Club. Raised in New York City and Glen Cove Long Island he graduated from the Peddie School in 1949 (Gold Key Honor Society) and graduated with honors from Yale University in 1953. Dick was very athletic and was an accomplished baseball player in high school and was on the swimming and football teams at Yale. After Yale he served in Army Military Intelligence, Far East Command, during the Korean war. Dashing and charismatic in his youth, he had all the admiring girls convinced that "penthouse serenade" was their special song until he met his beloved wife Joan. An engineer by profession, Dick worked in the family construction business, the Arthur A. Johnson Co. in New York City, until the sale of the company. From 1974 to 2009 he lived in Newton Center, MA and was General Manager at T. Equip. Corp. in Dorchester which specialized in bridge and tunnel work. Dick loved great wine and was an outstanding cook known for scouring the Boston Haymarket and fishing piers for the best ingredients. A writer at heart, he relished postprandial discussions of T.S. Elliot's The Waste Land and the works of Ernest Hemingway over a glass of Strega. Dick was also a great lover of animals and took in many strays at home and at the office. His beloved dog "Omo" ruled his home for many precious years. He is survived by his son Richard A. Johnson, III, his daughter Hawley Johnson and her husband Tony Hemmelgarn and two fur grandchildren, Lola (Pug) and Boodha (French Bulldog). As per his wishes, there will be no service and Interment will be private. It is requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Yale University, the Peddie School or the Animal Rescue League, 3200 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33409.

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Published by Boston Globe from Aug. 17 to Aug. 18, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for RICHARD JOHNSON

2 Entries

Tom McCallum

August 18, 2016

I have many great memories growing-up with both Dick and Joan as neighbors. They were the cool, handsome mod couple in suburbia that were approachable and sincere. They were great friends to my parents and kind to the kids in the neighborhood.

I will always associate Dick with Yale, the Gaints and as a great dad to Hawley.

I miss you both and thank you for the great memories and friendship to my family.

Herb Edmunds

August 16, 2016

So sorry to hear that Richard has passed on, I had the great pleasure working with him for approximately 24 years at T Equipment Corp. I learned so much from Dick that I have carried his teaching with me to other jobs during my life. about 5 of those years I worked daily right beside him. He always corrected my wording into proper English and significantly taught me how to write better construction letters. I learned his way of Estimating Construction Projects, walk the construction sites, learned how to evaluate the risk factors involved. If we ever had any disagreements, we would shake hands and be ready for the next day.
Dick loved his cat and drank coffee all day. He was known to tip the bottle once in a while, vodka, his favorite. We would go to lunch frequently and discuss the worldly problems over a glass or two of wine. He was never in a hurry except on Bid day when we would be struggling to write in the final numbers of the bid.
We worked many weekends together, and many nights to finish up bidding a project. I remember the night he got locked inside of the office yard fence and did not have a key to open the locked gate. I think it was snowing also, couldn't get a call out to anyone, so he said he strategically looked at the integrity of the fence, got back in his car and ran down the fence so he could get home. Oh, did we all laugh about that. He could tell some good jokes on occasion. Dick was an asset to his job and the people he worked for. He was set in his ways, saved everything, but was a good man that carried a truthful reputation. I will always remember Richard A. Johnson Jr., to my dying days. I can truthfully say, he was a friend of mine. Deep down, he really did care about others he knew.

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