October 01, 2018
Rev. Joseph Christopher Johnson, O.P. ’53; former sociology instructor
Rev. Joseph Christopher Johnson, O.P. ’53 died on June 17, 2017, at Rosary Hill Home, Hawthorne, N.Y.
Father Johnson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from PC in 1953, served his alma mater from 1963-1970. He taught sociology and theology for most of that period, but he also served as associate chaplain and as dean of students.
He was a Dominican priest for 57 years, and ministered and served in several other roles for more than 50 years, including as a teacher, academic administrator, pastor, prior, and campus minister.
Born in Boston, Father Johnson graduated from Matignon High School in Cambridge before entering PC. He entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Stephen Priory in Dover, Mass., on Aug. 5, 1953, and was ordained a priest at St. Dominic Church in Washington, D.C., on June 16, 1960.
In addition to PC, Father Johnson taught at Salve Regina University, Albertus Magnus College, and at Georgetown University, where he served as department chair and as a campus minister.
Beginning in the 1980s, he took on various other assignments and responsibilities, including as director of the Newman Center at the University of Baltimore Professional Schools; prior of St. Dominic Priory in Washington, D.C.; prior of St. Catherine of Siena Priory in New York City and pastor of the parish; supervisor of the ministry of Dominican chaplains serving at four major New York hospitals; and as campus minister at New York University.
A personal friend for more than 50 years, Thomas Minicucci ’65 & ’84Hon., called Father Johnson’s ministry as a Dominican “nothing short of amazing.” While Minicucci did not have him as a student at PC, he met Father Johnson the night before his graduation in 1965. He became close to him when Father Johnson was in New York City and Minicucci was doing post-graduate work at Columbia University.
Over the years, as their friendship grew, they traveled together during summer vacations all over the globe, including Europe, Africa, Asia, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republican. Father Johnson also celebrated weddings and funeral for members of the Minicucci family.
“His homilies always were personal expressions from a man who knew and really loved those he was honoring,” said Minicucci who moved to Florida after retiring from teaching. He added, “The amazing personal and professional life I’ve had were because of the example he set, his unqualified guidance, and love that was unconditional.” Minicucci taught for 25 years at Alexander Burger Intermediate School 139 for the Performing and Creative Arts in South Bronx, N.Y. Among other responsibilities, he directed a seventh- and eighth-grade steel band and taught a discipline class aimed at keeping young men in school.
Father Johnson, who was a son of the late Joseph Bertrand and Mary Theresa (Driscoll) Johnson, is survived by nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.
His Mass of Christian Burial took place at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in New York City on June 21, 2017. Burial was in All Souls Cemetery, Pleasantville, N.Y.
