Mr. Joseph Cleveland Johnson
Class of 1937

Mr. Johnson was born in 1920, the third son of Mae Duffy and Grover Cleveland Johnson. The family which also included a sister, moved to Houston in 1927 where they lived in the Blessed Sacrament Parish. After leaving Blessed Sacrament School, he attended St. Thomas College (renamed St. Thomas High School in 1940) located on Austin and Hadley Streets. His brothers Bernard '33 and Edward '34 also graduated from St. Thomas.

Following graduation, Joe enrolled at Texas A&M College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1942. Later the same year he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Corps. Within a year, as a member of the Eighth Air Depot Group he served in Rio de Janeiro; Cape Town, South Africa; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Takaradi; Ghana and Dakar, French West Africa. In October 1943 he returned to the United States for flight training. this prepared him to join the 50th Fighter Group in Nancey, France. Lieutenant Johnson flew sixty-three combat missions before the war in Europe ended in 1945.

He entered Fordham Law School in January 1946; later transferred to the University of Texas where he graduated and passed the Texas State Bar in 1948. In October 1950, Joe was called to active duty because of the Korean Conflict and was assigned to the Judge Advocate School in Montgomery, Alabama.

Sue Elizabeth Hartman became Mrs. Joseph C. Johnson in April 1952 and Lt. Johnson was given a release from active duty five months later. After serving the city's legal office for two years, he had a private law practice for eight years. In 1962, he joined the legal department of Continental Oil company from which he retired in 1985. Joe and Sue Johnson have three daughters, Helen Cockburn, Elizabeth O'Neal and Laura Cureton and six grandchildren.

Mr. Johnson has served as a trustee of the Scanlan Foundation since 1984, been member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society since 1958, and served as former President of the Central Council of the Galveston-Houston Diocese in 1971. He has also been a member of the Serra International since 1958 and a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem since 1975. The Johnsons attend St. Michael's Church where he was a member of the parish council in 1972.