Lewis Johnson always told relatives that his life changed during a storm on the Atlantic Ocean that he experienced as a sailor. An officer stepped out on deck during the downpour to tell the men he'd just dined on Baked Alaska, food that wouldn't be shared with them.
Mr. Johnson decided right then that one day he'd eat Baked Alaska or do whatever else he wanted in life. He'd simply work for it.
"It made him set goals," said Darlenda Johnson McNaull, a daughter from Duluth. "He was always looking for a way to improve himself and was a salesman from the heart."
Mr. Johnson embraced an entrepreneurial spirit that led to ownership of several businesses. He foremost was an independent insurance agent who worked 57 years in the field. He also owned an Atlanta barbershop, realty company and a hotel in Cordele.
On Wednesday, Walter Lewis Johnson Sr. of Lawrenceville died from complications of lung cancer at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth. He was 80. A memorial service will be held 3 p.m. Saturday at Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Lawrenceville. Wages & Sons Funeral Homes and Crematories is in charge of arrangements.
Born in Old Hickory, Tenn., Mr. Johnson moved to Atlanta when he was 4. With his mother's blessing, he joined the Navy at 17 and served on the USS Albany for four years. That experience, along with the Baked Alaska he was denied, was a motivator. He worked to make sure his children had a better childhood than him, and that they earned college degrees.
Dr. Sherilyn Johnson, a DeKalb County elementary school music teacher and Furman University alumni, was the eldest child and first to graduate.
"He always believed there was opportunity and being part of that greatest generation -- those who grew up during the Depression and World War II -- he had a resilience to keep moving forward," she said. "He had a spring in his step, always whistled and he taught us, as children, how to wink."
Mr. Johnson's insurance career began at the Endicott-Johnson Agency in West End. For the past 40 years he'd been president and CEO of All Risk Insurance Agency on Buford Highway. Until he turned ill, he would drive from his home in Lawrenceville, which he shared with Bernice Johnson, his wife of 60 years, to check on the business.
In 1970, Mr. Johnson entered politics to make a Republican run for Georgia state insurance commissioner. He faced nine Democrats, with Johnnie L. Caldwell the eventual winner.
"We would go all over the state to rallies and to talk to people," Mrs. McNaull said. "Being a Republican was uncommon back then. He was a leader and had wanted to make a difference."
Survivors also include son Walter Lewis Johnson Jr. of Snellville, daughter Taralee Johnson Weaver of Columbia, S.C., 11 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
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