Dudley A Johnson

JOHNSON A. Dudley Johnson, born February 26, 1922, passed away Tuesday, September 23, 2008 in Palm Springs, Calif. Cantankerous, but loving to the end, Dud was a lifelong resident of Fairfield. As the son of Allen Apgar Johnson and Katherine Sturges Glover Johnson, he was a member of one of the founding families of the town. He married Phyllis Madaloni Johnson of Bridgeport in 1945 while a First Lieutenant in the Air Force. On one of his first missions flying a P-51 over Germany, it was announced the war was over. Dud joked that when the Germans heard he was on his way, they surrendered. He culminated his long business career becoming the International Marketing Director for Pitney Bowes in Stamford. His tenure at Pitney Bowes allowed Dud and his family to move to London, England and travel all over the world. Dud and Phyllis moved to Palm Springs five years ago to be near their son, Dudley (Dood) of Altadena, Calif. In addition to his wife and son, Dud is survived by his sister, Helen Frederick of Santa Barbara, Calif.; his sister, Kay Marsh of Keene Valley, N.Y.; the wife of his late brother Samuel Johnson, Sue of Williamsville, N.Y.; and his son's partner, Barry Schwartz of Altadena, Calif.. Funeral arrangements pending.
(From The Connecticut Post)

Mr. Johnson was a very important part of my life. Growing up my grandparents lived far away in Pennsylvania (funny now that i live in pa but i grew up in CT) Mr. and Mrs. Johnson seemed to take over their role. My brother and I would spend every waking moment at their house. I stayed inside with Phyllis playing Go Fish or Russian Bank, she was quite fond of cards.. and cigarettes.. lol.. she always had the tennis game on in the background too. I must have drank all the snapple in their house! Mr. Johnson never missed one of our birthday parties.. i remember one year i told him to come down and my mom was quite mad telling me there probably wouldn't be enough cake.. i would have given him mine. We used to have little circuses in the trees at his house doing acrobatics and what not. He let us climb and play in them all the time. He was what a good neighbor was all about! I spoke with his son today, he said that he still has our pictures on his desk. It meant the world to hear that from him. I haven't spoken to them in a long time. He will be missed dearly, and never ever forgotten.