Celebrating the Life of Dr. Tobe Johnson Jr.’54 Friday, May 21, 2021 at 11:00 AM
celebrating the life of
Dr. Tobe Johnson Jr. ’54 | 1929 – 2021 |
FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2021 11 A.M. Morehouse College Shirley Massey Executive Conference Center Atlanta, Georgia
Order of Service OFFICIATING The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. Dean, Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel
PRELUDE PROCESSIONAL
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” Fred Bock
Dr. David F. Oliver
“How Great Thou Art” Abin Wentworth
Dr. David F. Oliver
WORDS OF CONDOLENCE
The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr.
EVOCATION SCRIPTURE READING
The Rev. Terry Farrell Walker Sr. ’89 The Rev. Dr. Aaron L. Parker ’75 Pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church, Atlanta Ga.
PRAYER OF COMFORT MUSICAL TRIBUTE
Sabrina Tucker Hall
1 Corinthians 13 (KJV)
“How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings” Arr. Samuel Liddle
Darrel McGhee ’73, Tenor Harding Epps ’73, Pianist The Honorable Michael Julian Bond Atlanta City Council, Post 1, At-Large
RESOLUTION TRIBUTES Dr. David A. Thomas, President, Morehouse College Marcia Klenbort, Family Friend Henry Wade, Pratt City Family Friend Dr. Leah Creque, Colleague Dr. Anne Wimbush Watts, Colleague Atty. Ronald Freeman, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Illya E. Davis ’89, Former Student Dr. Levar Lamar Smith ’02, Faculty The Honorable Louis W. Sullivan ’54, Classmate MUSICAL TRIBUTE
“Ain’t a That Good News” Arr. Uzee Brown
Pamela Dillard, Mezzo-Soprano Dr. David F. Oliver, Accompanist
FAMILY EXPRESSIONS Cheryl Johnson Daughter of Dr. Tobe Johnson Jr. ’54 Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr. ’75 President Emeritus, Morehouse College
EULOGY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS COLLEGE HYMN
The Rev. Dean Carter “Dear Old Morehouse” J.O.B. Moseley ’29
COMMITTAL RECESSIONAL
The Rev. Dean Carter “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” Arr. David Oliver
Dr. David F. Oliver
celebrating the life of
Dr. Tobe Johnson Jr. ’54 | 1929 – 2021 |
Dr. Tobe Johnson was a man of humble beginnings. He was born on September 16, 1929 to Tobe and Evelyn Johnson in Pratt City (an area of Birmingham), Alabama. His home on Avenue G was part of a tightlyknit community. His father worked at U.S. Steel and ran a BBQ stand, while his mother operated a small corner store. He always remembered his childhood fondly. He and his friends loved to play football and explore. At the age of nine, he began pulling his red wagon around to neighbors’ houses to sell fruit and candy for his father. On Sunday afternoons after church, you would find him down the street at the Wades’ house on the floor reading the newspaper. Both he and his younger brother, Adolphus, were given piano lessons at an early age. His brother became a talented pianist. As older children, they even formed a jazz band, with Tobe on clarinet. He excelled academically at A.H. Parker High School in Birmingham. One morning when he was 14, he helped his father, who was not well, take the trolley to work. Soon afterwards, his father passed away, and the trip to the trolly was the last time Tobe saw his father alive. But this glimpse of his father’s strength always stayed with him. Through the tenaciousness of his mother and support of his teachers and neighbors, he was placed on a bus headed to Morehouse College the year he turned sixteen.
Rabbani). Dr. Johnson was most proud of his grandsons Naim Adisa Johnson-Rabbani and John Johnson. Preceded in death by his younger brother, he held his nephew and niece, David and Christie Johnson-Satti, and their children, Ahlam, Rayan and Rza, close. He also was loved by his extended family including his “play sisters” Barbara and Marian Wade of Pratt City, whose family, along with the Gregorys will forever be entwined with ours.
After Dr. Johnson’s graduation from Morehouse College, Dr. Mays continued to watch his growth. After giving a lecture at Prairie View, Mays went to Tobe’s home for dinner and invited him back to Morehouse. Dr. Johnson accepted a position at his alma mater and dedicated his life to preparing the next generation of leaders. For 59 years, the faculty icon taught at Morehouse before retiring with emeritus honors in 2018, serving in roles including Avalon professor and chair of the political science department. During his nearly six decades as a beloved faculty member, he helped emerging political scientists and future lawyers, elected officials, diplomats, judges, policymakers, and thought leaders who contextualized the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the death of Martin Luther King Jr., September 11, and the Black Lives Matter Movement. He ran one of the only Peace Corps volunteer training programs in the South on the Morehouse Campus at the behest of President He quickly fell under the mentorship of former Mays. He was also instrumental in developing “Through his roles as educator, Morehouse President Benjamin E. Mays, who Black Studies programs across the country. would nurture his intellect and personal growth. During his tenure, he served as interim dean of nurturer, influencer and shaper He loved his adopted city of Atlanta. During the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, of public policy, Dr. Tobe Johnson chairman of the Faculty Value Awareness his junior year, he joined the Air Force and was stationed in Japan. He was there when the Committee, and supported the Honors Program is a true American treasure.” Korean War broke out. After his military service, and the Phi Beta Kappa chapter of which he was he returned to Morehouse; he graduated in a charter member. He was a beloved graduation 1954. This coincided with the Supreme Court’s landmark marshal and the College’s macebearer. “Brown vs. Board of Education” decision, which set The excellence Dr. Johnson demanded of students the precedent that began unraveling state-sanctioned was humorously referenced in remarks by former segregation. Accepted by Columbia University in New United States President Barack H. Obama (Hon.’13) York City, he arrived to find that there were no Black during his commencement address at Morehouse as students living on campus. He roomed at the Harlem he joked that a key stressor for graduating seniors was YMCA until they found him space. In 1963, he went making sure they had performed well in Dr. Johnson’s on to become the first African American at Columbia to policy thesis class. Some of Johnson’s honors include earn a Ph.D. in Political Science. Morehouse’s Vulcan Teaching Excellence Award, During the summer of 1959, Dr. Johnson returned to the Bennie Service Award during Morehouse’s 14th Atlanta and was introduced to Goldie Culpepper, who Annual “A Candle in the Dark” Gala, and the Pioneer was working at the original Auburn Avenue Library. of Education/Education Excellence Award from the After returning to New York, he courted her through letters. They were Not Alone Foundation. One of the first Blacks to join Leadership married during the following summer, on August 26, 1960, and began Atlanta, he was instrumental in helping to envision a new Atlanta their life together at Prairie View A&M in Texas where he taught and under Mayor Maynard Jackson’s administration. He also served on worked on his dissertation while she completed college. For more than statewide committees for Governors Jimmy Carter and Roy Barnes, as 61 years, they watched the world change, sharing their morning routine well as on the Atlanta Regional Commission. of dissecting the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Through his roles as educator, nurturer, influencer and shaper of public while sipping coffee. They most enjoyed traveling. Their last big trip was policy, Dr. Tobe Johnson is a true American treasure,” reads a 2019 to China as representatives of Morehouse. They had two children, Tobe proclamation from the Atlanta City Council. Johnson III ’86 (Shirley) and Cheryl Anne Johnson (Abdullah Abdur-
Obituary
Honorary Pallbearers
In Lieu of Flowers
Dr. Booker Poe
Donations in Dr. Johnson’s honor may be sent to: Morehouse College: Tobe Johnson Scholarship Fund
Moses Few Munson Steed Charles Epps Bob Holmes Michael Hall Marcus Hall The Clemons Family Political Science Department The Howard Thurman Honors Program Phi Beta Kappa
Special Thanks
The family of Dr. Tobe Johnson Jr. expresses our sincere gratitude to everyone who planned, participated in and attended his celebration of life. We express special thanks to Morehouse College, President David A. Thomas, Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., Rev. Terry F. Walker Sr., Mrs. Kimberly M. Brown, Dr. David E. Morrow, Dr. David F. Oliver, Mr. James Smartt, the Office of Event Support Services, the staff of the Office of Strategic Marketing Communications, the Morehouse Campus Police Department, the Murray Brothers Funeral Home, and to all of our family and friends. Your kind expressions of sympathy and friendship will always remain in our memories. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Lynfield Neighbors
Honorary Flower Bearers Ann Gregory
Repast
The family of Professor Tobe Johnson Jr. cordially invites you to join them for the repast immediately following this service in the Shirley Massey Executive Conference Center.
Lasheika Kassa Sandra Wilson Janita Poe
The interment of the cremains will be at Westview Cemetery.