Nolan Lewis Johnson

Born December 17, 1946 in Columbus, Georgia, Butch was the oldest son to Dorothy and Nolan Johnson Sr. Growing up in Columbus, Butch spent his early years fishing with his grandparents at the backwaters of the Chattahoochee, attending Columbus Methodist Church on Sundays, and working on math problems in his free time at home. In his senior year at Columbus High School, he met his future wife Sylvia Ann Carmichael (Pippi). Butch went on to receive a BS Civil Engineering (‘69), an MS Sanitary Engineering (‘70) from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Georgia State (‘73). Following undergraduate school, Butch and Pippi married in 1969 and moved to Fort Stewart where he served as First Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Following resignation from the Army in 1972, Butch and Pippi moved to Cobb County where they raised two sons, Steven (b.‘72) and David (b.’76). Through the 70’s and early 80’s, Butch pursued his career as an environmental engineer working for the city of Atlanta, Keck and Wood Engineering, and Southern Engineering. In 1986, Butch started his own office out of the basement of the house, Civil Engineering Consultants. Through CEC, Butch would design numerous water treatment plants, pump stations, and waste water treatment plants delivering clean drinking water to thousands of Georgia residents. During these years, Butch also served as Scoutmaster to Troop 433 taking van loads of kids on camping and canoe trips throughout the southern Appalachians.

In 2011, Butch retired in order to spend times with the grandchildren, travel with his wife Pippi, spend more time at the lake house on Lake Burton, and play golf. Tragically, their retirement was cut short with his diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy in 2015 and Pippi’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2019. Pippi died from complications of ovarian cancer on November 3, 2020. Fifty three days later, Butch would follow, passing away from complications of PSP on December 26, 2020.

Butch was a thoughtful, considerate, and patient human being; a loving husband and devoted father and grandfather. Described by coworkers as “an engineer’s engineer”, Butch loved solving problems and designing water treatment plants. He enjoyed the outdoors including early camping trips with the family, canoe trips with the scouts, playing golf with friends, and boat rides across Lake Burton with Pippi. He took pride in his military service to our country and leadership role in the Boy Scouts. At the core, he was an optimistic thinker that believed with hard work and a plan anything, within reason, could be accomplished.

Butch is preceded in death by his father Nolan Johnson Sr, mother Dorothy Johnson, and wife Sylvia Carmichael Johnson. He is survived by his brother Stephen, two son’s Steven and David, daughter in law Amber, and grand-daughters Madelyn and Annibel. A small family service will be held on Saturday, January 16 at 11am at Parkhill Cemetery in Columbus Georgia. Donations can be made to CurePSP in the name of Nolan Lewis Johnson Jr.

To share fond memories and condolences with the Johnson family please visit www.shcolumbus.com.