Don Edwin Johnson 1939-2012

Attorney Don Edwin Johnson, 73, formally of Pinckneyville, Illinois, died on September 27, 2012, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he had resided since retiring in 2006.  

 He was born on January 29, 1939, in Decatur, Illinois, the son of Benjamin Edwin Johnson and Mary Louis Pitzer Johnson.   He spent his childhood on the family farm in Assumption, Illinois.

He enrolled at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois at age 16 and graduated cum laude in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also spent a semester at American University in Washington DC. In 1961 he received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois specializing in Taxation and Mineral Law.

He married Suzanne Curtis in Mt. Vernon, Illinois on August 23, 1959.

He was appointed law clerk for Justice Byron O. House of the Illinois Supreme Court and joined the law firm of House and House in Nashville, Illinois.  He then started the law offices of Hohlt, House, DeMoss, and Johnson in Pinckneyville and DuQuoin, Illinois, and later became the senior partner of Johnson, Seibert, and Bigham in Pinckneyville.

He was a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Chairman of the Federal Taxation and Mineral Law Section Councils.    He was also a member of the Illinois Bar Foundation, American Bar Association and Foundation, Eastern Mineral Law Foundation, and the Perry County Bar Association.

He held three public offices:  States Attorney of Perry County, City Attorney of DuQuoin, Illinois, and City Attorney of Pinckneyville, Illinois for twenty years.

He enjoyed playing golf as a result of his son, Marc, becoming an avid golfer.  He was a member and the Director of the Southern Illinois Golf Association.

He was a lifelong Presbyterian. The Memorial Presbyterian Church was an important part of his life in Assumption. The Johnson family gave the land for the church and his mother’s family donated the organ. As a teenager he delivered sermons and his first grandson was baptized in this church.

He is survived by former wife, Suzanne Curtis  of St. Louis, MO, daughter Jennifer Johnson Higginbotham and husband Mike ,also of St. Louis, son, Marc Wade Johnson, and wife Stephanie of Palm Harbor, Florida, and five grandchildren, Jonathan Barrett “JB” and Clayton Curtis Higginbotham and Jessica, Jacqueline, and Jacob Johnson.

He is remembered for his intelligence and clear, articulate command of expression.

Memorial donations may be made to the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Assumption, Illinois.