John T. Johnson

The early morning of June 27, 2024, at peace and at home with his devoted daughter Jennifer by his side, Blount County Native, John T. Johnson went to his eternal home. John Thomas Johnson was born at home on June 7, 1938, in Alcoa, Blount County, Tennessee. He is survived by his daughter, and his older brother, Dr. George W. Johnson (Judy). He was preceded in death by his son, John McTeer Johnson, his wife Jodie McTeer Johnson, and his parents Emmett and Grace Johnson. His friends affectionately called him “Johnny”.

Johnny was a high school graduate of Baylor Military in Chattanooga and is listed as one of their Notable Alumni. He then graduated from the University of Tennessee before going into the United States Army and serving in Korea. Johnny loved his country and its flag and has always flown several at his home.

Johnny started his ‘water career’ as a lifeguard at The Alcoa Pool, where he discovered a passion for gathering coins that had fallen out of pockets at the bottom of the pool. He often said he made more at the bottom of the pool than in his weekly pay- check. He furthered that passion by joining the UT swim and dive team. At that time the Vols did not have a high diving board but at a meet at Georgia Tech, Johnny, who had been high diving at his summer job, defeated Tech’s high diver on their own high board. Johnny also played first base, and lettered, on the baseball team in 1959-61. The recent National Championship was the last sporting event he enjoyed on television. 

Johnny continued his passion for the water by becoming a commercial diver. He moved to Morgan City, LA, the hub of commercial diving in the Gulf of Mexico’s oil and gas industries. There, in 1964, he partnered with his friend and fellow University of Tennessee alumni, Mike Hughes, to start their own diving company, World Wide Divers, a small regional diving company that eventually evolved into Oceaneering International. Oceaneering is one of the world's largest subsea engineering companies with world headquarters now in Houston, TX. Among many of the civic and industrial awards Johnny received during his career, one of these was the John E. Galletti, Jr. Memorial Award which was presented by the Association of Diving Contractors in recognition of significant achievement in the field of Commercial Diving.

Johnny was a faithful Christian and loved serving his Lord. He was very involved in his church and served as a deacon at Bethel Baptist Church in Townsend. Johnny especially enjoyed playing and singing Christian music. He also directed the Interfaith Youth Choir in Morgan City, LA when it began.

Johnny felt participating in his community was very important. He served as a city councilman in Morgan City, LA. He served on the boards of The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, The Boys and Girls Club of Knoxville, the University of Tennessee School of Music, and was Chairman of United Way for South Louisiana. Johnny was a proud Rotarian and was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Foundation and attended Rotary meetings in numerous countries throughout the world during his extensive travels. The Morgan City Rotary Club honored Johnny in 2009 with their distinguished Rotarian of The Year Award. He also served as the president of the Morgan City Petroleum Club.

Johnny was a faithful husband, a loving dad, a very respected businessman and friend to many. He had an infectious smile and a perpetually positive attitude. Johnny loved his Lord, his family, his community, and his country and he will be greatly missed by many.

Services Tuesday, July 2, at First Baptist Church of Maryville, visitation 5:00pm to 7:00pm, and funeral service at 7:00pm. Burial will be Wednesday, July 3, at Sherwood Gardens at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to an endowed scholarship named the “Johnny Johnson Scholarship for Commercial Diving” at the diving school at the Young Memorial campus of the South Louisiana Community College in Morgan City, Louisiana. Donations to the scholarship can be made by going to www.givebutter.com/JohnnyJohnson. or The Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, Tennessee.