Reverend Thomas Edward Johnson, Jr.

The Reverend Thomas E. Johnson, Jr.

May 4, 1955 — April 13, 2024

The Reverend Thomas E. Johnson, Jr. died April 13, 2024, at Canterbury Place of heart failure following a stroke. He was 68. Born May 4, 1955, to Thomas E. and Dolores Johnson, he grew up in Wilkinsburg.

His parents raised him with a strong belief in the power of education and sent him to Shady Side Academy, where he graduated in 1973. “At Shady Side,” he recalled, “I learned to read well, write well, speak well, and think well, all so that ultimately I could live well.”

After his graduation from the College of Wooster in 1977, Reverend Johnson returned to Shady Side, where he served over the course of many years as an English teacher, coach, dorm parent, counselor, and trustee. As the head varsity boys’ lacrosse coach, Reverend Johnson instilled in his players a sense of sportsmanship, integrity, and other life lessons, and he led them in volunteering regularly at Rainbow Kitchen. His iconic pre-game rallying cry says it all: “Take care of yourself, take care of your teammates, and the rest will take care of itself!” With a looming presence and a booming voice, he continued to offer inspiring invocations and benedictions at Shady Side events until his death.
 

Reverend Johnson later earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. It was there that he formed his sense of vocation and met Jodie Moore, his partner and dearest friend, with whom he co-founded The Neighborhood Academy in 2001. Over the course of two decades, with their shared passion for educating underserved youth and breaking the cycle of poverty, they built the school from a small program for a handful of students in a renovated warehouse to a beautiful new facility in Garfield for more than 150 middle and high school students. “He and I were the most important people in one another’s lives,” says Mrs. Moore. “We believed that we were called to be together, not just to found the school but to complete one another in some way.”

At his core, Reverend Johnson was a profound thinker, philosopher, and empathetic man with a deep and abiding faith formed in the crucible of African American struggle and spirituality. His faith and his relationship with God informed everything he said and did, whether he was preaching, teaching, coaching, or just talking with a friend. Never one to allow obstacles to get in his way, he was fond of saying, “God hasn’t brought us this far to kick us to the curb.”

An ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ, he served at Allegheny United Church of Christ and East Liberty Presbyterian Church before turning his attention to become Head of School at the Neighborhood Academy. Even as he led the school, he continued to serve the congregation at Community of Reconciliation.

At the time of his death, Reverend Johnson was in the process of starting another school, the Mon Valley Boys’ Academy, where he had already worked with the first cohort of students in a summer academy and a subsequent tutoring and mentoring program.

A transformational educator and leader, Reverend Johnson was recognized for his accomplishments with the Andrew Matheson Award from FAME, a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the General Synod United Church of Christ Excellence in Teaching Award, the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Man of Excellence Award, and an honorary PhD from Bethany College.

Reverend Johnson is survived by his partner and dearest friend, Jodie Moore, and her family, and by his cousin, Helen Ford, and her children John and Sonya Ford, along with the hundreds of individuals to whom he was a treasured pastor, teacher, coach, mentor, and friend. While he never married or had children of his own, he is also survived by countless students who cherished him as a father figure, from the summer programs he ran in the 1990s, to Shady Side Academy, the Neighborhood Academy, and the Mon Valley Boys’ Academy summer program that he launched in 2023.

Friends will be received Wednesday, April 17 from 3:00 to 7:00 pm at John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc. at 4900 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh. A funeral service will be held Thursday, April 18 at 11:00 am at Third Presbyterian Church, 5701 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh. Everyone please gather at church. Following a private interment, friends are invited to a reception at The Neighborhood Academy, 709 North Aiken Avenue, Pittsburgh. Memorial contributions in Reverend Johnson’s honor may be made to the Neighborhood Academy or the Mon Valley Boys’ Academy c/o Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=cUj4rn).

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