Family/Spouse: Nicole Desjarlais. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Finn Desjarlais Johnson

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485317883:1030:191555462
• _UID: CEAB5F8A187C400AA54AB06E73DB4D9C846E

Notes:

Died:
Rev. Robert "Bob" Leon Johnson Jr.
Greensboro, North Carolina

Rev. Robert "Bob" Leon Johnson Jr., beloved father and university chaplain, died Sunday, December 26, 2021 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was in his 92nd year.

A lifelong preacher, Bob was born in Lake Wales, Florida to Robert & Loralee Johnson. He was a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, and received graduate degrees from Harvard University and Union Theological Seminary, where he was a student of Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr.

Bob's theology reflected his wide range of interests, and his belief that the surest way to nurture a relationship with God was to be more attentive to the world, and he found these moments in any call to be more fully present, whether it was through worship service, the outdoors, literature, cooking and eating, visiting an art museum, or travelling with his children and grandchildren.

In 2020, the UNC Wesley Campus Ministry, where Bob served for 18 years as director, established a fellowship in honor of his 90th birthday: the Rev. Robert L. Johnson Fund for a Diverse Wesley. His tenure at Wesley (1957-1975) was driven by the civil rights struggle, and during his time there, he hosted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a lunch with local ministers, worked to integrate establishments around Chapel Hill, and followed the lead of his mentor, Rev. Charlie Jones. This led Bob to action both in and out of the pulpit, and established his deep interest in social justice, which persisted throughout his various ministries.

In 1982, Bob was named the chaplain at Cornell University, where he became the director of Cornell United Religious Work. While at Cornell, he oversaw the growth of the interfaith community on campus, as well as the weekly Sunday services at Sage Chapel, where he brought a wide range of speakers and thinkers to Sage's pulpit, including John Cleese, Peter Gomes, Arianna Huffington, John Lewis, and William Buckley. During his lifelong career in campus ministry, he also served as president of the National Institute for Campus Ministries, the Association of College and University Religious Affairs, and on the editorial board of the journal Cross Currents. He is the author of the book Counter Culture and the Vision of God (Augsburg Publishing, 1971), and a collection of sermons, Defending the Hope Within Us (Forest Home Chapel, 2006). He retired from Cornell in 2001 and subsequently served for over two years as the part-time pastor of the Forest Home Chapel in Ithaca, New York. In 2006, he moved to the Twin Lakes community in his adopted home of North Carolina.

Bob Johnson will be remembered by his family and friends, both for his erudition and his sense of humor – he was as likely to quote Monty Python or Faulkner as he was the Gospels. Those who knew him, knew both his generosity and his notorious impatience, as well as his constant willingness to discuss politics or the weather or Carolina basketball. He will be remembered as a magnificent preacher, a kind neighbor, and a devoted father and grandfather.

He was preceded in death by his former wives, Barbara Johnson and Rev. Kathleen Finney, and his sister, Betty Wildman. He is survived by his four sons and their spouses, Dr. Paul and Cheryl Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia; Christopher Johnson of Burlington, North Carolina; David Johnson and Jessica Byrne of Lansing, New York; and Luke Thomas Johnson and Nicolle Desjarlais of Franklin, Tennessee. He is also survived by his beloved nieces Cindy Dunn and Kathy Johnson, his nephew Mark Wildman, as well as his five grandchildren: Benjamin Johnson, Luke Forrester Johnson, William Johnson, Ramona Johnson, and Finn Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be directed to the North Carolina Museum of Art, which gave him so much pleasure throughout his life, or to the Reverend Robert L. Johnson Fund for a Diverse Wesley at the UNC Wesley Campus Ministry. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Posted online on December 27, 2021
Published in The Ithaca Journal

Robert married Kathleen Finney. Kathleen (daughter of Thomas Dunn Finney, Jr. and Sally Van Horn) was born on 19 Mar 1948; died on 24 Apr 2002 in Aurora, Cayuga, New York, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485316835:1030:191555462
• _UID: 4C0DD0B8FA62478F8FFE5BBED37C00B2BAAA

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485323942:1030:191555462
• _UID: A621F175C1CF419B9153E60704A7FAFF0EA8

Robert married Loralee. Loralee and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485323945:1030:191555462
• _UID: 28F9043A00A24D12923AC77F0A54A9FD7699

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485316851:1030:191555462
• _UID: 44841F238E334BA38AEEAFD06D5B3C9E52CE
• Census: 4 Apr 1930, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; Address:
  South Central Ave
• Residence: 1 Apr 1935, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Census: 8 May 1940, White Township, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Residence: 1960, Bethesda, Montgomery, Maryland, United States; Address:
  5608 Brite Dr

Notes:

h5

Residence:
Rural McCurtain County

Died:
Thomas D. Finney Jr., 52, a Washington lawyer who had been associated with a number of top political figures, died Monday at his home in Bethesda.

He suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

He was a member of the prestigious law firm of Clifford, Glass, McIlwain and Finney, which he had joined in 1963. He had not practiced law actively, however, for the last eight months.

Mr. Finney came to Washington in 1957 as administrative assistant to Sen. A.S. Mike Monroney (D-Okia.), remaining in that position until 1963.

He built a reputation as a politician and legislative strategists, and during this period was a major author of the Federal Aviation Act.

In 1960, Mr. Finney worked with Adlai E. Stevenson and organized the remarkable gallery demonstration for Stevenson at the Democratic convention that year.Later, the victor, President John F. Kennedy, borrowed Mr. Finney to work on the Trade Expansion Act, which Mr. Kennedy considered one of his most outstanding achievements. Mr. Finney advised the president as a member of his Task Force on Foreign Policy, as deputy special assistant to the president for Foreign Trade Policy and as director of congressional liaison for the Trade Expansion Act.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Mr. Finney to go to Mississippi with Allen Dulles when disorders develop there involving the registration of black voters.

Mr. Finney recommended the FBI agents be sent to the rural counties of Mississippi to monitor the registration. That same year he was special counsel to the credentials committee at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.

Mr. Finney was credited with being among the key figures who helped solve the politically explosive dispute over which a delegation from Mississippi would be recognized.

In 1968, Mr. Finney took a leave of absence from his law firm to work in the presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy. He was considered to have the most political expertise in the organization.

Mr. Finney directed McCarthy's primary victory over Robert Kennedy in Oregon, visited the Kennedy family when Robert Kennedy was assassinated and remained the McCarthy liaison with Kennedy's followers.

Born in Idabel, Okla., Mr. Finney served as a Navy officer toward the end of World War II and then earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma where he received a law degree in 1948.

He practised in Idabel for three years with his father, the late Thomas D. Finney, a pioneer trial lawyer. He then served with the Central Intelligence Agency in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1952 to 1955.

Before joining Sen. Monroney in Washington, Mr. Finney was in private law practise in Oklahoma City.

He was a director of Continental Airlines and general counsel to the Proprietary Association. He was a trustee of the Citizens' Research Foundation.

Mr. Finney was a member of the American, Oklahoma, D.C. and Federal Bar associations, the American Judicature Society, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, the National Lawyers Club and the Federal City Club.

He is survived by his wife, Sally Van Horn Finney, daughters, Susan Ford of Oklahoma City, and the Rev. Kathleen Finney, of Roanoke.; Va.; his mother, Bettie Higgs Finney, of Idabel, and two grandchildren.

The family suggests that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to the Washington Hospice Society or the Thomas D. Finney Memorial Fund at Washington Cathedral.

Thomas married Sally Van Horn. Sally (daughter of Walker William Van Horn and Dorothy Daisy Deuel) was born on 22 Mar 1924; died on 3 Jun 1984 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States; was buried in 1984 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485320135:1030:191555462
• _UID: F14CF038BD7544E6A1B4184CB7E5B3FBC409
• Residence: 1960, Bethesda, Montgomery, Maryland, United States; Address:
  5608 Brite Dr

Notes:

Information is from Susan Finney McKinney

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485316841:1030:191555462
• _FSFTID: L5NQ-KJV
• _UID: 8D101EFDE63046988E7A217EE62A5F24E623
• Census: 11 Jun 1900, Lawrence, Tennessee, United States; Address:
  8th Civil District
• Census: 21 Apr 1910, Lawrenceburg, Lawrence, Tennessee, United States; Address:
  Waterloo St.
• Military: 1918, Kansas, United States; listed in records of Camp Funston; Address:
  Camp Funston
• Military: 12 Sep 1918, Lawrenceburg, Lawrence, Tennessee, United States; registered for WWI draft
• Military: 11 Oct 1918, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States; draffed for military service; Address:
  Vanderbilt University
• Census: 4 Apr 1930, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; Address:
  South Central Ave
• Residence: 1 Apr 1935, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Occupation: 1938, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States; assistant State Attorney General
• Residence: 1938, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States; Address:
  1917 NW 23rd
• Census: 8 May 1940, White Township, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Elected: 22 Dec 1942, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; State Senator, 24th district, Oklahoma State Senate, 19th Senate Session in a special election to fill an unexpired term
• Elected: Nov 1944, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; State Senator, 24th district, Oklahoma State Senate, 20th Senate Session
• Elected: Nov 1946, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; State Senator, 24th district, Oklahoma State Senate, 21th Senate Session

Notes:

h2

DEATH: Noted in Daily Oklahoman, 16 Jun 1968, Tom Finney, 69, longtimeattorney, state majority leader, rites on Sunday.

Census:
Listed as Thomas M Finney, but the family is next door to the Dunn family

Census:
In the 1910 census, Thomas is enumerated in his grandmother's home (his mother's mother) along with his mother. Both the father and the grandfather have died. Also present is an aunt and her family.

Census lists his father as from Indiana rather than Ohio.

Military:
Thomas D Finney (2229652), Pvt, Co I, 28th Inf, July 21, 18

Residence:
Rural McCurtain County

Died:
Death certificate says 14 Jun 1968. Elsewhere, I have seen 16 Jun 1968.

Buried:
Neither Tom nor Bettie is buried in Idabel, Oklahoma, even though they have a stone there.. Tom is buried with his parents in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Bettie was cremated and the cremains are the possession of her granddaughter, Susan Finney McKinney.

Remains were released to a funeral home in Idabel, however, for burial.

FINDAGRAVE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23664563

Thomas married Bettie Higgs on 15 Mar 1924 in Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States. Bettie (daughter of John William Higgs and Eliza Johnson (Lida) Cason) was born on 24 Nov 1903 in De Queen, Sevier, Arkansas, United States; died on 25 May 2000 in Edmond, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States; was buried in Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485317452:1030:191555462
• _FSFTID: L5NQ-KMN
• _UID: E5829CF4E3F04A129B5DAC36B54F1BCCEB90
• Census: 5 May 1910, De Queen, Sevier, Arkansas, United States
• Residence: 11 Sep 1913, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; moved from DeQueen, Arkansas to Idabel, Oklahoma
• Misc: 2 Sep 1915, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; returned from a visit to DeQueen
• Misc: 16 Jul 1919, Nashville, Howard, Arkansas, United States; visited Miss Bill Dennison
• Census: 6 Jan 1920, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Census: 4 Apr 1930, Idabel, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States; Address:
  South Central Ave
• Residence: 1 Apr 1935, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States
• Residence: 1938, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States; Address:
  1917 NW 23rd
• Census: 8 May 1940, White Township, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States

Notes:

h2

Misc:
Miss Bettie Higgs has returned from a visit to DeQueen.

Misc:
Miss Bettie Higgs, of Idabel, Okla, and Miss Lucile Smith, of Tyler, Texas, are visiting Miss Bill Dennison in this city.

Residence:
Rural McCurtain County

Buried:
Neither Tom nor Bettie is buried in Idabel, Oklahoma, even though they have a stone there.. Tom is buried with his parents in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Bettie was cremated and the cremains are the possession of her granddaughter, Susan Finney McKinney.

FINDAGRAVE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23664540

Notes:

Married:
For some reason, the marriage record calls Aunt Bettie Bettie Jane. No one can ever recall her having any sort of middle name. None of her sisters had middle names.

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485320136:1030:191555462
• _UID: 1A586748D04042A6AE348982DFAD77EFF8F8

Walker married Dorothy Daisy Deuel. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _AMTID: 162485316471:1030:191555462
• _UID: B007F8743C7D4C1096EF1EE04146886E3835