Herbert Melvin Johnson
Mr. Johnson, 80, of Roosevelt, died Jan. 26 at St. Francis Hospital, Trenton. Born in Tarrytown, N.Y., he lived in Roosevelt for the past 24 years and was actively involved in his community. Mr. Johnson graduated from City College of New York in 1950. He had been a YMCA Director, a union carpenter, and a teacher in the East Brunswick Vocational School for the last 18 years of his career. He was active in peace, disarmament and civil rights causes all of his life. He marched on Washington and remained forever inspired by Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. For more than 20 years, he was an active member of the Coalition for Peace Action, in Princeton, where he was honored with an award in March 2001. He served on the Roosevelt First Aid Squad, the staff of the Roosevelt Borough Bulletin, the Roosevelt Nuclear Disarmament Group, the Roosevelt Seniors' Group, and in many other school and community functions. A lifelong learner, he taught himself to play the guitar, was an amateur astronomer, a bird watcher, a naturalist, singer/songwriter, a senior triathlete competitor and an all-around handyman. In his retirement, he became an Abraham Lincoln presenter, traveling to Lincoln conferences and speaking at many functions. His infant son, William, predeceased Mr. Johnson. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Florence McCarty Johnson; children and their partners, Lezlie Johnson, Evelyn Johnson and Jerry Pitman, Virginia and Bob Bochar, Steven and Joanne Johnson, Jennifer and Jim Cicalese, and Daniel Johnson; two brothers, Jack and Martin; sisters-in-law, Virginia, Helen and Catherine; a brother-in-law, Anthony; five grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Roosevelt Public School, Roosevelt. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Womanspace, Inc., 1212 Stuyvesant Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618, or to Roosevelt First Aid Squad, P.O. Box 274, Roosevelt, NJ 08555












