Steve Johnson Sr Passes Away

I learned just this evening that Steve Johnson Sr., father of pro Steve Johnson has died, unexpectedly and much too young.

I still can't quite believe it, because I had several long talks with him while I was at Ojai, a tournament he loved and attended every year. As is always the case when I'd see him--at least twice, maybe three times a year--Steve and I would talk about all sorts of tennis and family related topics. We'd discuss his work as a tennis coach, which was now happening at a new location after the sale of the club where he previously worked.  He said he was optimistic that he would have some Ojai junior finalists in the coming years, and was happy to be on court and busy.

In addition to player development in general, we'd talk about paths to the pros, and while he acknowledged that each player and situation is different, he was adamant that staying at home and staying in school, as Stevie did, was a viable option that should not be dismissed.  This article on Steve Sr's move to Huntington Beach's Golden West Tennis Academy gives some insight on his thinking about that.

We also talked about his plans for this summer. He enjoyed traveling with Stevie when he could, and this year was planning to spend the grass court season with him in Europe, while his wife Michelle and daughter Alison were going earlier for the clay tournaments Steve was playing, including the French Open. Steve Sr loved Wimbledon and to see his son competing there was obviously a great source of pride to him.

And we spoke about Stevie's upcoming wedding, next April, which, unfathomably, he did not live to see.

I considered Steve a friend and also a model for tennis parents everywhere. He was optimistic, kind, intelligent, thoughtful, supportive, yet he was also unafraid to speak his mind. And although he was a tennis lifer, he possessed a keen sense of perspective and was always appreciative of what the sport had given him. When around him, you couldn't help but feel his happiness, both in the sport and in his life.

It's hard not to focus on the void his death will leave for so many people. But that void is so large because of the impact he had on so many while he lived. He'll be missed, for all he was and all he did. Rest in peace.