Hank Johnson

He was born on March 5, 1941, to the late Henry M. Johnson, Sr., and Helen Nabors Johnson. Hank is also preceded in death by his son, Henry Morgan Johnson III; and his brother-in-law, John Michael Weigle.

Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife of 56 years, Sybil Hargrove Johnson; his children, Ashley Johnson Logan, husband, Barry of Trussville, AL; Suellen Johnson Johnson, husband Jeff of Northport, AL; and Michael Alan Johnson of Tuscaloosa, AL.; seven grandchildren, Joshua Daniel Logan, wife, Amy, of Trussville, AL; Hannah Logan Bishop, husband, Tyler, of Odenville, AL; Sarah Logan Burke, husband, Alex, of Plant City, FL; Morgan Johnson Causey, husband, Kyle of Northport, AL; Alex Jeffrey Johnson of Woodstock, AL; Taylor Suzanne Johnson of Northport, AL; and Nicholas Jude McElroy, wife, Alexandra, of Atlanta, GA; five great-grandchildren, Aiden Tyler Bishop; Elizabeth June Bishop; Denalii Braiden Gomez; Aurianna Leigh Causey; and Myles Taylor McElroy. He is also survived by his brother, Steven “Steve” Nabors Johnson, of Vestavia Hills, AL; sister-in-law: Lucy Hargrove Weigle, of North Augusta, SC; nieces, Emily Sirles Johnson, of North Adams, MA; Rebecca Anne Johnson, of Birmingham, AL; nephews, Steven Nabors Johnson Jr, wife: Kimberly, of Hoover, AL; John Michael Weigle Jr, of Augusta, GA; Charles Hargrove Weigle, of Macon, GA; Reed Gardiner Weigle, wife, Elizabeth, of Marietta, GA; along with Camilla Frazier, John “Jack” Hargrove, Anne Reed and James “Bo” Gardiner.

Hank attended Auburn University, was a three-year letterman for the Tigers golf team, and finished second in the SEC Championship in 1962. He played on the PGA Tour for two years before becoming an assistant golf professional at Longue Vue Club in Pittsburgh, PA. Hank won the 1969 Tri-State PGA Assistant Professional Championship, competed that year in the U.S. Open, and played three times in the PGA Club Professional Championship. After a season in Pittsburgh, he became Head Golf Professional at Youghiogheny Country Club in McKeesport, PA. In 1975, he was named to the Golf Digest Advisory staff, where he authored many articles and appeared on their cover multiple times. Hank moved back south in 1976 and started his tenure at NorthRiver Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa, AL. where he held the title of Head Golf Professional, Director of Golf, and then General Manager. After leaving NorthRiver he became Executive Golf Professional and Director of Instruction at Greystone Golf Club. Hank was a multiple winner of the Dixie Section PGA Horton Smith Award (1978, 1980, and 1983) for outstanding contributions to golf education and has won multiple awards including, Top Teacher of the Year-Travel South Magazine in 1989; Professional of the Year by the Alabama Golf Association in 1984; Professional of the Year by the Dixie PGA in 1985; Dixie Sectional PGA Teacher of the Year 1997; and 2004 National PGA Teacher of the Year. His many students have included players from the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, and top collegiate, junior, and amateur players. In 1993, he authored “How to Win the Three Games of Golf”, a study that explores the swing, the shots, and the score. In 2001 Hank was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He founded The Hank Johnson School of Golf in 2002. Hank was consistently named by Golf Magazine as one of the Top 100 Teacher’s and by Golf Digest as one of the Top 50 Teacher’s in the nation.

Aside from his exceptional golf career, he was a loving husband, a father who adored his children, and a proud grandfather and great-grandfather. Those were his most precious God-given awards. Hank was a long-time member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church.

A visitation will be held at Ridout’s Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, Alabama on Friday, October 8, 2021, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The funeral home requests that people who are ill or who are part of an at-risk population, stay home and watch the service via live stream. If you will be attending, please know that you will be required to wear a mask and that you are mindful of close contact. The funeral home is limiting the capacity of people the facility will accommodate.

The funeral service will begin at 1:00 pm and will be live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/SouthernHeritageFuneral

We encourage those who will be watching the live stream to sign Hank’s virtual register book at

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/pelham-al/hank-johnson-10379305

Pallbearers will be Barry Logan, Joshua Logan, Tyler Bishop, Alex Burke, Jeff Johnson, Alex Johnson, Denalii Gomez, and Kyle Causey. Honorary pallbearers will be John Weigle, Jr., Charles Weigle, Reed Weigle, and Steven Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting memorial donations be made to The Bradley Johnson Memorial Foundation. You may donate online via the following link

https://bradleyjohnsonmemorialfoundation.org/donate/

or you may donate by sending a check to

Bradley Johnson Memorial Foundation

2313 Maury Place

Birmingham, AL 35242

***PLEASE NOTE***

To donate online, click on the name of the charity below the word "Donations", and that will take you directly to the website.