Jearlene Strickland of Franklin and Mollie Ann Beasley of Bowden 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. "Everybody wanted to use one of his engines 'cause they knew he knew what stuff to put in them," his son said.Īdditional survivors include his wife of 58 years, Sarah Jeanette Johnson of Mableton two other sons, Steve Johnson of East Point and Ramon Johnson of Mableton two daughters, Tereion Sims of Austell and Pam Johnson of Atlanta a brother, Joe Johnson of Atlanta three sisters, Betty Strong of Roanoke, Ala. He still tinkered, though, and had two engines at his Mableton home. In recent years, he'd turned the keys of a Camaro dragster over to a son-in-law, but still saw matches in LaGrange, Eatonton and Phenix City, Ala. He also was a 2005 honorary inductee into the Bryant Racing Hall of Fame. Johnson was honored with a retirement shoot-out race at the LaGrange Troup County drag strip. A track promoter came to the aid of Grannyboy and his brothers they were put in a patrol car and taken to the hospital. In 1961, he left the Atlanta Motor Speedway bleeding and beaten, the victim of a racial fight that erupted in the infield. Dan Parker, substituting for a vacationing Lynne Milner-Baxley behind the wheel of Ellis Milners 1957 Chevrolet, survived a race of upsets and won the Dixie Pro Mod Association season opener at Phenix Dragstrip in Phenix City, AL. I was a smart enough man to ignore them." "I heard those racial words and was called ‘boy' and everything else," he said in a 2004 interview. Insults flew, but the race was such a success the promoter asked him to stay and run another day. In the 1960s, Johnson hauled his car to Jackson, Miss., to become the first black to race at a town track. The dragster raced in black-only matches in places like the Fairburn drag strip and eventually competed against white drivers locally and out of state. He moved to Atlanta when he was 18, and became a printer for ICT Printers, his sole employer for 58 years.įor sport, racing was it. Carrie Church School in the Heard County town of Franklin. Watkins Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. A funeral will be held noon Saturday at Mt. 1 from complications of the disease at VistaCare Hospice. Several years ago, the retired printer was diagnosed with a rare skin cancer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |