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JOHNSON Walter J.
Birth: 1 Feb 1923
Death: 11 Jun 1998 Cambridge, Mass.
Cause of Death: heart attack
Notes
!PUBL
1981 book (see for details)
ssn 180 24 6823 issued in Pa. before 1951
obit in 16 Jun 1998 Phila Inquirer:
WALTER JOHNSON
CHEMICAL-FIRM RETIREE, 75 Walter Johnson, 75, a former Germantown resident
and Pennwalt employee, died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in Cambridge,
Mass.
A Quaker and graduate of Germantown Friends, Mr. Johnson was a conscientious
objector during World War II and did alternative service with the American Friends
Service Committee, planting trees in Elkton, Ore., for the U.S. Department of the
Interior.
After earning a degree in engineering sciences and applied physics at Harvard
College, he worked for the Stokes Division of Pennwalt Corp. in Philadelphia for 21
years. The company, later called Atochem Corp., produced refrigeration chemicals
used in the making of paint for skyscrapers.
He left that job in 1971 and spent the next three years as business manager of the
Germantown Friends School.
From 1974 until 1985, he was the assistant director for business affairs at Shady Hill
School in Cambridge.
He was active with the American Friends Service Committee, the Germantown Friends
School, the Germantown Friends Meeting, the Wissahickon Boys Club, and other
organizations.
He enjoyed bird-watching, sailing and woodworking.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Leeds Johnson; son, Ralph; stepson, Daniel
Mendelsohn; stepdaughters, Sarah E. and Joanna M. Mendelsohn; and seven
grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Friends Meeting House, 5
Longfellow Park, Cambridge. Burial will be private.
obit in Boston Globe 15 June 1998:
Walter Johnson, an educator, volunteer, corporate manager, and engineer, died
Thursday at Mt. Auburn Hospital. He was 75.
From his early years as a conscientious objector during World War II to his later years
as an adviser and worker at Cambridge Friends School, Mr. Johnson lived his
principles and Quaker beliefs.
Born and raised in Germantown, Pa., he attended the Germantown Friends School.
After three years of civilian public service with the American Friends Service
Committee in Elkton, Ore., and Laurel, Md., in 1946 he graduated summa cum laude
from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in engineering sciences and applied
physics.
In 1949, he engaged in an American Friends Service Committee relief program, under
the United Nations, for Arab refugees in the Gaza Strip in Israel.
He then worked in management for 21 years in the Stokes Division of the Pennwalt
Corporation in Philadelphia. He completed his career with more than 25 years of
business management for Germantown Friends School, Shady Hill School in
Cambridge, and Cambridge Friends School.
He was a member of the National Audubon Society and the Hawk Mountain
Sanctuary, the Chatham Yacht Club, and the board of directors of the Crestmont Inn at
Eagles Mere, Pa.
He was a former member of the board of the Wissahickon Boys Club and the Awbury
Committee of the City Parks Association. Besides birding and sailing, he enjoyed
carpentry and spending summers in North Chatham.
He leaves his wife, Mary (Leeds) of Cambridge; a son, Ralph of Salem, N.J.; a
stepson, Daniel Leeds Mendelsohn of Jamestown, R.I.; two stepdaughters, Sarah
Ellicott Mendelsohn of Medford, and Joanna Moore Mendelsohn of Seattle, Wash.;
and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Friends Meeting House in
Cambridge. Burial will be private.
Parents
JOHNSON Walter ()
WARNER Edith ()
Siblings
JOHNSON Walter J. (1 Feb 1923 - 11 Jun 1998)
Marriage To LEEDS Mary Maule ()
Notes
Parents
LEEDS Morris Evans (6 Mar 1869 - 8 Feb 1952)
MOORE Hadassah Joanna (24 Jan 1891 - 16 Mar 1978)
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