OBITUARY OF WILTON J. (BILL) JOHNSON, JR Wilton J. (Bill) Johnson, Jr. passed away Tuesday, September 7, at home in Meridian. He was born in Vicksburg, Miss. on October 23, 1926. He graduated from Jackson Central High School and, after serving in the U. S. Navy, graduated from Ole Miss. Visitation will be at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Meridian from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 11, followed by a memorial service at 3:00 p.m. A celebration of his life and wine and cheese reception will be in the parish hall following the service. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Johnson was in the cotton business in Jackson and Columbia, Miss., before becoming manager of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce in Columbia in 1957. He then became executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board in Greenwood, Miss., then served for 25 years as executive vice president of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce in Meridian. He retired as a community/economic developer with Miss. Power Co. in 1993 and became a journalist with three publications on the Gulf Coast and later with Mississippi Magazine and Mississippi Business Journal. He also wrote the biography of Richard Wilbourn and was in the process of writing the history of Citizens National Bank of Meridian. Johnson helped found the Committee of Conscience in Meridian in 1964. Then in 1987 he also helped found the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and organized and served as chairman of the 500th birthday celebration for the Friendship Oak on the USM Gulf Coast campus. Johnson served as president of the Mississippi Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 1965 and president of the Southern Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 1981. He also served on the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and was made an honorary member of that organization in 1995. He was chairman, and on the faculty, of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management at the University of Georgia. He was named a Certified Chamber Executive in 1969. He served on the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, was a member of the Lacy Bottom Marching & Chowder Society, the Meridian Rotary Club, the Meridian Short Circuits and served as president of the Meridian Area Navy League. Johnson was a lifetime member of the Ole Miss Alumni Association and had served as president of the East Mississippi Ole Miss Alumni Association. He was also the Meridian Ambassador of Jackson's Five O'clock Club. Johnson was preceded in death by his parents Wilton J. (Bill) Johnson and Anna Helm Shingleur Johnson and his first wife, Frances Hemeter Johnson. Survivors include his wife, LaNelle Cosey Johnson; son Wilton J. (Jerry) Johnson III and wife Louisa Dixon; son Rev. David Hemeter Johnson and wife Nora (all of Jackson); daughter Anna Helm Blair and husband, Mike (from Oxford); step-son David Martin and wife Robin; step-son Allen Martin and wife Molly; and five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren. Honorary pallbearers will be the presidents of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce 1961-1987, members of the Lacy Bottom Marching & Chowder Society, and members of the Five O'clock Club, Bill Barrett, David Buckner and Mrs. A. B. (Clarice) Crenshaw. Johnson was devoted to his family, friends and church. In lieu of flowers, memorials should be sent to the memorial fund of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1116 23rd Ave., Meridian MS 39301), the Honorary Wilton "Bill" Johnson Scholarship Fund at Meridian Community College (MCC Foundation, 910 Highway 19 North, Meridian, MS 39307) or a worthy cause.
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