George F. Johnson

George Fenimore Johnson of Quaker Neck, Chestertown, Maryland died peacefully at the University of Maryland Hospital on Friday, March 9, 2007 surrounded by his loving family. He was 78 years old. George was born on June 14, 1928 the youngest of the late Eldridge Reeves Fenimore Johnson and Janet MacLaren Darby Johnson of Moorestown, NJ. He attended the Moorestown Friends School until 1939 when the family moved to Gladwyne, PA. He graduated from The Haverford School in 1947 earning varsity athletic letters for football, gymnastics and was the stroke for the crew that won the US National Rowing Championship in the Men’s Heavyweight 4 Boat. In 1951 he graduated with a B.S. from the University of Wyoming where he was a member of the college rodeo team. After college he joined the US Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean conflict from 1951 to 1953. He was honorably discharged from the US Army Reserves in 1959. In 1954 he married Viola Dale Lindsay of Gladwyne, PA and they settled in Newtown Square, PA where they raised four children. George worked as Executive Vice-President of FenJohn Co., a manufacturing and wholesale distributor of underwater camera equipment. He later became the President of the Johnson Offices, a firm dedicated to estate management. In 1971 he moved his family to Chestertown, MD where they previously owned property since 1958. George’s great passions in life were hunting, conservation and sailing with family and friends. He considered it an honor to be a member of the 1964 successful defense of the Americas Cup aboard the 12 meter “Constellation”. Spanning over 30 years, his black-hulled yachts named “Challenge” were recognized as formidable competitors in the trans-Atlantic and East Coast racing and cruising circuits. In pursuit of his love of hunting and conservation he traveled the globe. In his later years he and his beloved wife, Dale, enjoyed the heritage of the American West. George Johnson was a member of the Cruising Club of America, Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia, New York Yacht Club, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International and Clan MacLaren Society. George Johnson is survived by his four children, Lindsay Johnson Mathews, Fenimore Tyler Johnson, Bradford Filter Johnson and Shaw Johnson Price, five grandchildren and two step-grandchildren, on e sister, Janet J. Hewes and on brother, Eldridge R. Johnson II. A memorial service will be held at 11am on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Sandy Bottom Road, Chestertown, MD. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions be sent to the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Co., P.O. Box 296, Chestertown, MD 21620.