Carl Johnson, 77: A rugged individualist
Published 12:08 pm Saturday, December 5, 2015
- This undated photo provided by Beverly Woodruff shows Carl Johnson. William Hudson, who is charged in the killings of six people, including Johnson, at a Texas campsite had earlier befriended the group and helped dislodge one of their vehicles from mud, a sheriff said Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. (Beverly Woodruff via AP)
Connecticut native Carl Johnson served in the Navy during the mid-50s, but in civilian life he saw the world from a motorcycle.
Then, once he and his wife Cynthia retired from their non-academic jobs at the University of Maine at Farmington a decade ago, they roamed the roads in a classic silver Airstream Safari travel trailer.
Carl Johnson’s travels ended on Nov. 14 when he and his daughter Hanna were discovered dead in the 25-foot camper, murdered at the Tennessee Colony campsite that also claimed the lives of Hanna’s 6-year-old son, her fiancé and two of his adult sons.
Only Cynthia Johnson, 63, survived the massacre, hiding from the killer in nearby woods. She declined comment on the horrific crime but willingly talked about the man she met years ago in a computer class, accepted his offer for a date and eventually his marriage proposal.
“Even on that first date to go to a dance at the American Legion, he was singing away,” Cynthia Johnson said. “I liked that. I had never so easily felt comfortable with someone. We were friends for life.”
They settled a few years ago in the gated Hillsboro, Texas, community designed for Airstream owners. The rural countryside was second nature for Johnson. “He would go out and chop down trees in the spring,” said his wife. “In the winter we had maple trees. We would tap the trees.”
Bob Lawrence, his boss at the University of Maine, where Johnson worked from 1970 to 1999, starting as a custodian, and ending in the personnel department, called Carl Johnson a soft-spoken, caring man. He remembered Johnson driving a motorcyle, his wife in the sidecar.
The couple celebrated their 42nd anniversary four days before the shootings with Chinese food in Waxahachie, Texas.
“Carl was the interesting one,” Cynthia Johnson said. “There was no such thing as sitting down during the day for him.”
Marya Garren manages the North Texas Airstream Community, where the Johnsons lived.
She said the community woodworking shop he loved will be dedicated to Carl Johnson and 12 live oaks have been planted nearby in his honor.
“He was the most wonderful person you ever met,” Garren said. “He was a joyous person, full of life.”
