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Date published: 10/28/2009
Arthur L. Johnson Sr.
Arthur Leslie Johnson Sr., 80, left this life peacefully Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Born in New York City, Oct. 14, 1929, Art lived much of his life in Becket, Mass. The adopted son of Merton Edwin and Blodwin "Bessie" Johnson, he attended elementary and high schools in Becket and Chester, and was admitted to American International College in Springfield, Mass. While attending AIC, he wed Mary Beck Cratty, to whom he was married for 42 years. Art left AIC in 1951 during the Korean conflict to join the United States Navy, rising to machinist mate third class and completing shipboard tours of duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific. In succeeding years, Art worked as both fuel deliveryman and burner technician in the home heating industry, as an insurance agent, and as a superintendent for Warner Brothers Construction of Sunderland, Mass. and owner/operator of residential construction firms in both Massachusetts and Virginia. Art and Becky moved to the Fredericksburg area in 1986. They lived in Stafford and King George counties until Becky's death in 1993. Later he married a long-time friend, Judith Cooper Kaiser. They lived in Franklin, N.H., until her death in late 2005. Since that time, Art had been living with his eldest daughter in Huntsville, Ala. Art was father to three children. Marybec is married to Peter Griffin, and they have four children. Arthur Leslie Jr. married Jane Sheppard; both of their daughters are married, and they have one grandson. Nancy is married to James Meadows, and they are raising their grandson. Art grew up in an era of close-knit community, and over the course of his lifetime was active in the Future Farmers of America as a teenager, the Boy Scouts as an adult leader, a member of the American Legion, and rose through the Masonic orders from Blue Lodge to the Knights Templars as well as the Order of the Eastern Star. In civic affairs, Art was a Becket town selectman, an auxiliary police officer, and was active in several Republican campaigns of the early 1960s. A Masonic graveside service, followed by military honors, will be performed at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, in the North Becket Cemetery. Following the ceremony, a time of fellowship and light refreshments will be held at the Congregational church hall in Becket Center. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Grand Lodge Scholarships, Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, 186 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 02111.
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