Eric Harold Johnson passed away on January 29, 2022 with his wife Bonnie Ellis Johnson and oldest son Scott at his side, with his youngest son James and other family members on the phone overseas.
The son of a US Navy Warrant Officer, he spent part of his early life in Hawaii. In his 76 years of life, Eric attended the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, as a member of the Boy Scout honor guard, received an appointment to the US Naval Academy from the same president, and survived an interview with Admiral Hyman Rickover, who asked him if he was one of the Naval Academy Beatles because his hair was longer. He passed his interview, and upon his graduation in 1967 in the top 10% of his class, he was accepted to the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program and Submarine School.
When he was 14, he went on his first date with Bonnie. The two of them would eventually spend the next 62 years together, getting married upon graduation in the Naval Academy chapel. They would have two sons, Scott and James, whom he considered to be his greatest achievements.
In eight years as a submarine officer in the Navy, he completed five patrols on ballistic missile submarines, first on the USS Francis Scott Key SSBN-657 (Blue) as Reactor Controls Officer, Radar/Sonar Officer and Damage Control Assistant, then on the USS John C Calhoun SSBN-630 (Blue) as the Engineer Officer.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1975, Eric and his family settled in Arlington, Texas, where he served the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV, rising to Director of Reactor Safety and Projects. In 1979, he took advantage of an opportunity and took the family overseas for two years to Paris, France. There he served as a US Government liaison to the Nuclear Safety Division of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It was there that he and Bonnie developed a love for travel which continued throughout his life. They imparted that appreciation in their sons, which continues to this day.
He left government service in 1987, and the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked for a short time at the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in Evaluations and Assistance. He then went into private consulting in the nuclear energy industry, eventually creating his own firm. During this time, he consulted with such projects as Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility in Colorado, Hanford Nuclear Site in Hanford, Washington, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Upon retirement in 2012, Eric and Bonnie traveled extensively throughout the world, adding to their previous experience traveling everywhere in western Europe and all the way to Moscow and Leningrad (still under the Iron Curtain), by visiting places as far away as Norway and New Zealand.
Both Anglophiles, Eric and Bonnie particularly enjoyed their experience traveling throughout the British Isles, returning several times. When not traveling, he would enjoy British television comedies and dramas through Acorn and Britbox.
In 2018, Eric and Bonnie downsized from their previous home and settled into a new 55-plus neighborhood, where Eric served on the nascent Homeowner’s Association Board until his illness eventually prevented him from continuing. He was also active in the social activities of the neighborhood, from wine tastings to “Flamingo Fridays”.
In addition to his wife Bonnie, Eric is survived by his two sons, Scott Johnson and his wife Laura of Kennesaw, GA, and James Johnson, currently living in Brussels, Belgium with his wife, Debbie and youngest daughter, Adrian. Eric’s grandson, James and Debbie’s son Drew Johnson, lives with his wife Corrin in Palmerston North, New Zealand. His other granddaughter, James and Debbie’s oldest daughter, Ansley, lives with her fiancé, Joe Hadley, in Monee, Illinois.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 6, 2022 at the Woodstock Funeral Home, 8855 Main Street, Woodstock, GA 30188. Visitation will begin at 1:00 pm and the memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm. Burial with military honors will occur at 10:00 am Monday, March 7 at the Georgia National Cemetery, 2025 Mount Carmel Church Lane, Canton, GA 30114.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.woodstockfuneralhome.com for the Johnson family.
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