Full Name:  Elmer Clair Johnson
     Born:  June 27, 1933, Greenock, Pa.
     Died:  June 9, 2022, Tampa, Fla.
   School:  Eustis High School in Eustis, Florida

Year  No  Hgt  Wgt  Cl  Ltr  Hometown
55-56     6-0  175  Jr       Jacksonville                        

Elmer Johnson, 88, of Tampa, passed away peacefully, joining his Heavenly Father on June 9, 2022.

Born on June 27, 1933 in Greenock, PA, he relocated with his family to Eustis, FL in 1946 and graduated from Eustis High School in 1951. After spending a year with Brown Builders Supply unloading boxcars of lime, mortar mix, cement and plaster, he followed his Brother Dale to Florida State University and graduated in 1956 with a BS degree in Business. While at FSU, he joined the National Guard (where he served for nine years), Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, played on the FSU volleyball team, and participated in the FSU Circus. He also met the love of his life, Jean, on the lawn of the Strozier Library.

He subsequently married Jean and they settled in her home town of Tampa. After 18 years of working for two different insurance companies (The Home and Employers/Commercial Union), he founded his own insurance agency, Elmer Johnson Insurance, Inc. Despite having no formal sales training, and starting with a just small desk in the corner of their bedroom, he built a successful independent insurance agency over the next 21 years, one relationship at a time. He also established a boutique investment advisory firm, EJI Financial Services, where he served select clients and friends with whom he established long-term, close relationships.

During his career, he earned significant professional designations, including the CPCU (Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter) and CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), and also became a Registered Investment Advisor. He was generous with his time, serving various charity, civic and industry organizations as President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Greater Tampa, Interbay Sertoma Club, The Children's Home, and Palma Ceia United Methodist Church.

He dearly loved his family and was its bedrock, role-model, and hero. Words cannot express how much this huge-hearted man meant to them and also to the many others whose lives he impacted over the last 88 years. His kindness, humor, empathy and genuine interest in others endeared him instantly to everyone he met. He was an avid and award-winning photographer, and even processed and developed his own black-and-white photographs in a darkroom he built in the garage. He and Jean were very blessed to travel and explore many countries. He was a voracious reader, had an intense curiosity and held genuine conversations on most any topic. He owned several Harley Davidsons and met some of his closest friends in the local Harley group. He loved to sing and play his ukulele for anyone who would listen. He frequently made up his own jokes, and his self-proclaimed greatest talent was wiggling his ears.