Remembering Fred Johnson, 1943-2024

I received a surprising e-mail a few days ago, and it was not a pleasant surprise.

Here is the back story. When I began working on my “Chattanooga Radio and Television” book in 2010, I was trying to locate as many broadcasters as possible from the city’s past. Fortunately, people like Luther Masingill, Earl Freudenberg, Marcia Kling and others had worked in local radio and TV for many decades, and were able to provide photos and documentation that were valuable to my project.

But I was unable to locate a number of people. Even with the internet, you cannot find everyone. Some were “off the grid.” Many had moved out of the area and had not engaged in social media. I was unable to locate them even when using search engines that specialized in tracking down almost anybody.

Fred Johnson was among those people. I was searching for the best photos to include in my book, and Fred had popped up in a few of them from his days at WRCB, Channel 3. I had hoped Fred might have saved a few photos, maybe better than the ones I had. Despite my efforts on the internet, and in asking Fred’s friends and co-workers, I could not find him. Some years later, long after the book was published, a mutual friend of Fred told me he had heard Fred had passed away. I had assumed that anyway.

Over the years, once or twice a year, someone would ask me, “Whatever happened to Fred Johnson?” My response was always, “I wish I knew.”

In that surprising e-mail, I got my answer. Fred passed away on Sunday September 1, 2024, at the age of 81. He was a few miles from me in Chattanooga all this time, and I had no idea.

I only met Fred once, and it was during his seven-year tenure at WRCB (1977-84). Each Labor Day weekend, the station broadcast the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, and Channel 3 did local segments for a few minutes each hour. The telethon went on for 20 hours, so occasionally Channel 3 invited local radio personalities to cover some of that time, giving its own employees a break. I rarely appeared on TV, and certainly wasn’t very good at it. Fred was on the sidelines as I appeared on an outdoor segment, at some busy intersection where we were collecting money from passing motorists.

At some point during my segment, the camera operator gave me the “wrap” signal, a quick circling of his index finger indicating I should toss back to the network. As I was hurriedly signing off, the camera guy suddenly switched to the “stretch” signal, imitating a stretch of a big rubber band, instructing me to keep talking. So I started blabbing incoherently in a sweaty attempt to stay on the air. About the time I was warming up, he gave me the “wrap” signal again. Let’s just say my attempt at smoothly navigating the world of live TV went about as badly as you could imagine.

When I was finally off the hook, Fred walked up, smiling and laughing. “Welcome to the world of TV! It’s not as easy as it looks, is it?” He assured me this was a common occurrence, and if I ever got into TV (which I had no intention of doing) this awkward experience would come in handy. That would turn out to be quite prophetic, and good advice.

I appreciated Fred’s good humor, which also came through on the TV screen. The only thing I really knew about him was that he was a workhorse on Channel 3, kind of like the utility man on a baseball team who could play any position on a moment’s notice.

Here’s a hilarious blooper from one night in 1983. Bill Markham was delivering a prime time news update in front of a green screen, and the live image projected behind him was intended to be a calm newsroom backdrop.  Unbeknownst to everyone involved, including Bill, his friend Fred Johnson was about to engage in a little newsroom horseplay with sports reporter Clark Schaffer. No one alerted them that the newsroom shot was about to be on live TV. Fred is wearing the white jacket. Just watch:

Fred could shoot video with the bulky news camera, report the news from the field in the market’s only live truck of that era, anchor the news, do the weather forecasts, and handle the sportscast. Channel 3 was in third place most of those years, with constantly changing ownership, management, and news department heads, so I can safely say it was not smooth sailing during Fred’s tenure. But he was a good soldier, working seven days a week during many stretches when the station was “between” weather forecasters. He also hosted several telethons for the United Negro College Fund. He did the Today Show morning cut-ins for a while, always signing off by saying, “Have a ‘su-pah’ day!”

And that was the extent of my knowledge about Fred Johnson until I received that sad, surprising e-mail. Now I need to share what we all need to know about Fred.

He was a Chattanooga native, and a 1961 graduate of Howard High School. He served in the US Marine Corps for fifteen years, and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry, and several other decorations.

He earned a B.A. degree from San Diego State University. Upon returning to Chattanooga, he became a youth counselor at the Boone-Hysinger housing project.

After leaving Channel 3, he worked at WJTT radio as news director, and later got into the automotive business, handling sales, finance and insurance at Kelly Cadillac and Trotter Buick well into the 1990s. He was married at least twice, and had one son.

Fred himself was adopted at an early age. He attended Orchard Knob Baptist Church. At some point he lived in the Mary Walker Towers near his alma mater of Howard High, and for the past ten years or so, was a client in the Ascension Living Alexian PACE program, which provides senior adult care and home daycare. His health had been relatively good for a number of years, until he was weakened by a stroke. I am told that he was able to communicate until near the end of his life, when his speaking skills were limited. Still, he watched the news, made jokes, and loved to pass out candy to other residents.

A representative of the PACE program sent this statement: Fred was a generous spirit, never one to impose on others. His unique blend of humor and kindness touched the lives of those around him, leaving a lasting impression that will be remembered fondly by many.He will be deeply missed.

At his request, there was no funeral service, and he was cremated. He will be buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Many of his WRCB co-workers that I contacted describe him as “full of life,” “a dapper gentleman,” “positive, uplifting, encouraging and friendly,” and “a guy who didn’t take himself too seriously.”

So far, the only obituary I’ve seen consists of a short paragraph. That just doesn’t seem right to me. Even though he lived far outside the spotlight for many decades after his 7-year splash on TV, he deserves a better send-off.

Fred Johnson was a top student at his high school, he served his country with honor, and he worked to inform his neighbors. He lived 81 years, many of them in bad health in a tough, often unforgiving world. He was human, he made mistakes, as all of us do. I wish I had tried harder to track him down during these past few years. I think we could have built on our one engagement, and we could have had many more laughs.