John W. Johnson, age 84, passed away peacefully at home on November 5, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was born on July 23, 1937 in Elsberry, Missouri to Wallace S. Johnson and Dorothy L. (Douglas) Johnson. He and his siblings enjoyed playing on their Grandparents farm in Elsberry before moving to Omaha, Nebraska with the family as a young boy. John was a business-minded man who owned and operated clothing and music stores in Omaha, Nebraska, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington. However, he spent his most recent years with his loving wife in the warm and friendly city of West Memphis, Arkansas. He loved the Lord and began preaching the gospel in his early years and is known to many as minister Johnson. He was a loving husband to his beautiful wife Marie. He loved his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren deeply.
John is preceded in death by his father Wallace S. Johnson, mother Dorothy L. (Douglas) Johnson, grandparents Earl F. and Izora (Harvey) Douglas, grandmother Susie (Ross) Johnson, daughter Regina (Johnson) Martinx sons Dedan Boyd and Walter Boyd, brothers Earl L. Johnson & Alonso Johnson and sister Janice L. (Johnson) Dryden.
He is survived by his wife Marie Johnson, brother Merrill L. Johnson, sister Sharon M. Johnson-Nugent, brother Michael P. Johnson, and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Family, friends and others whose lives John touched are invited to his celebration of life at Albertson’s Funeral Home at 1775 N. Sherman Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana 46218 on Saturday, November 13, 2021. Visitation is 11:00am-12:00pm EST. Service is at 12:00pm EST.
John was a fatherly figure, a brother and a cousin. Having know John in my early stage of life, John was always their to provided words of wisdom and sound advice. We talked often when I needed some advice and John was very candid and smart about his advice. He would often say ” uses the street sense to guide your book sense” John loved his family and would often go down the family tree and guided you as to how you fitted in to the family tree, The family has lost a rock and a family anchor which will be hard to replaced. I could go on further but my parting word ‘John may you take that pearl and go join GOD in heaven”
Rest in peace John Johnson. You were like a big brother to me and very influential to my love for music. We had some great times on Halsted with the original Blues Station Wagon.
I’ve bought Blues records from Elder Johnson at his iconic Blues Bus in the the old Maxwell Street Market in Chicago. I remember that he loved Gospel music but also Blues music and thought both were gifts from God. In the 1990s he owned a record store called Heritage Blues Bus music, also in the Maxwell St. neighborhood. He decorated it so it would have a southern down-home feel. He seemed to always spread the culture of southern Blues and Gospel wherever he went. He put a bale of hay outside in front of his music store. I think he would had a live mule at his record store if the City would have allowed it.
Rest In Peace and Love Uncle John.
Thank you for one on my fondest memories that I have always cherished from my childhood.
Grandma, me and Troy took the train to Seattle to see you. You made the trip so special because you took the time to show us around and took us to a football game. I must have been about 5. You took me shopping and bought me the most colorful plaid shirt that was my favorite for at least a year. Thank you for the only other time I got back to Seattle since my parents moved away. Thank you for your love of sharing where we came from, I really appreciated that along with many other things, you were there for the Family, thank you.
Sorry to hear of your passing,
Lakesha your niece.
I knew John Johnson from the Maxwell Street Market in Chicago and from his involvement in the Maxwell Street Foundation. I wanted to extend condolences from the Maxwell Street Foundation, a non-profit group which preserves and interprets the history of the old Maxwell Street Market and neighborhood, and advocates for the current Maxwell Street Market. We are thinking of Marie Johnson and the entire family at this difficult time.