Warren Tyson Johnson was born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 20, 1945 to Patty Arrington Tyson Johnson and William Tipton Johnson. His maternal grandmother, Mildred Keller Tyson, was the younger sister of Helen Keller. Warren Johnson’s early years were spent in Montgomery, but his family moved to Tuscumbia in 1960. He attended Deshler High School, graduating in 1963. He attended the University of Alabama where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Upon graduating in 1967, he served on active duty in the Alabama National Guard.
He and Linda Griffin were married in 1968. He then went into the insurance business with his father. After his father retired, Warren merged his insurance agency with Scott Henninger and Robert Layton to form the HJL Insurance Agency, Inc. He was the president of the agency.
He was widely involved in church, business, educational, charitable, and civic affairs. He served as a Sunday school teacher, deacon, and elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Tuscumbia.
He was elected to three terms on the Tuscumbia City Council and served three terms on the Tuscumbia Board of Education. He was the voice of Deshler Tiger Football for seventeen years. He also supported education by being a charter member of the Tuscumbia Educational Foundation. He was also a member of the Deshler Boosters Club, Deshler Quarterback Club, and the University of Alabama Alumni Association.
His charitable and civic involvement was focused on the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, the Helen Keller Festival Board, the Shoals Economic Development Authority, the Colbert-Lauderdale Attention Homes, and the Tuscumbia Kiwanis Club. His participation in these organizations was characterized by an intense interest and serious attention to the projects in which he was involved.
He was proceeded in death by his parents, William Tipton Johnson and Patty Arrington Tyson Johnsohn. He is survived by his wife, Linda Griffin Johnson; daughter Keller Bane Johnson Thompson, her husband William Andrew Thompson and their children William Griffin Thompson, Keller Cooper Thompson and Johnson Kirk Thompson; son Warren Tyson Johnson, Jr., his wife Amy Foster Johnson, and their children Anna Katharine Johnson and Warren Tyson Johnson, III; brother William Tipton Johnson, Jr. and his wife Inge Prytz Johnson; brother-in-law, Raymond Clyde Griffin and his wife Priscilla Hobbie Griffin, and by a niece, two nephews, and numerous cousins.
Visitation will be at Warren Johnson’s home in Tuscumbia on Sunday, October 13th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The funeral will be at the First Presbyterian Church in Tuscumbia on Monday, October 14th at 2 p.m. Dr. Randy Thompson, Rev. Randal Yelverton and Rev. Steve Wallace will officiate. Internment will follow at Johnson’s Woods.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial to Tuscumbia Education Foundation, 303 N. Commons Street East, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674.
Pall bearers will be Mr. Doug Garrett, Judge Chad Coker, Mr. Luke Brown, Mr. Joe McIlwain, Mr. Bryan Thornton, Dr. Troy Youngblood, Mr. John W. Johnson and Mr. William T. Johnson III.
Honorary pall bearers will be Dr. Mark McIlwain, Mr. Edward Underwood, Mr. Ricky Bryant, Coach John Mothershed, Mr. James A. Patton, Judge Harold J. Hughston, Jr., Mr. James D. Hughston, Mr. Joseph W. Finch, Mr. William (Bill) Webb, Mr. Brad Phillips, Mr. Gordon Fennel, Dr. Mike Cowley, Judge W. Thomas Crosslin, Mr. Buck Minor, Mr. Marcel Black, Mr. Ronald Hudson, Mr. Scott Henninger, Mr. Bill Alexander, Mr. Jack Underwood, Mr. Roy Rudolph, Mr. Forrest White, Mr. Rodney Howard, Dr. Robert Morris, Dr. Jimmy Gardiner and the Deshler High School Football Team.
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