Gerald (Jerry) Johnson - Turtle Name - JJ - A Founding Member of TEX - By Larry Crone
The son of a dentist, Jerry Johnson was born and grew up in Anna, Illinois. He graduated from Anna High
School in 1952. Among his high school classmates were Bill Trees (TEX founder), Linda McCree (Carthage
alumna), and Farris Johnson (his present wife who also has an early TEX connection). Jerry attended
Washington Univ. in St Louis in 1952-53 and transferred to Carthage in the fall of 1953. He attended
Carthage till January 1955. During his days at Carthage his roommates were Bill Trees, Larry Crone, and
Don George. During his first semester at Carthage, while rooming with Trees and Crone, Tau Sigma Chi
was conceived and born on the night of October 7, 1953. He was a founding member of the fraternity and
has been a member since.
In January 1955 Jerry was involved in a car accident, causing him serious back injury and resulting in his
having to use knee braces on both legs ever since. JJ had to remain out of school for all of 1955. He then
enrolled in S. Ill. Univ. before entering Vanderbilt Law School in 1956. He graduated from Vanderbilt in
1959 with a J.D. Jerry passed the Illinois and Missouri bar exams that year and moved to Cape Girardeau,
MO - the home of Rush Limbaugh. (for some reason Jerry wanted to be sure I was aware of this fact) He
practiced law there for 47 years, retiring in 2006.
Along the way Jerry married his first wife, Joyce, in 1956. They became the proud parents of three sons:
John (now 50) a pathologist in Herrin, Ill.; Joe (48) an accountant in St. Louis; and Jason (46) a lawyer and
presently a civil engineer with IDOT. Jerry's wife, Joyce, died in 2005. He then married his present wife,
Farris, in July 2006. They reside in Houston, Texas.
Farris, as was mentioned earlier, had an early connection with TEX. On the Turtles first spring break trip to
Anna, Ill. in 1954, Farris is seen in four pictures taken in Anna at that time. In one picture she is standing
next to JJ - in the other three she appears to be more attracted to another Turtle. (See the Tau Sigma Chi
history as compiled and written by Bill Trees)
When asked what were some of his best memories of TEX, Jerry mentioned - the "Augustana Raid"(which
was not an official function), the two spring trips to his hometown with the Turtles, and the visit from his
brother Turtles while he was confined to the hospital in St. Louis after his accident.Jerry attended his first
official Turtle function since 1955 when he returned for homecoming this past October - 2008. We hope to
see him and Farris at many future activities.
GERALD JOHNSON