Guy Everett Johnson, Jr., of Cundy’s Harbor, passed away after a long battle with melanoma on March 11, surrounded by the family he loved. He was born in Stonefort, Ill., on June 24, 1923, to Guy Everett Sr. and Laura Johnson. He grew up in Maine at the Johnson family homestead on Worthly Pond, and moved to Cundy’s Harbor when he was a teenager.
He was instrumental in the founding of the Cundy’s Harbor volunteer fire department and the Cundy’s Harbor Library.
Guy graduated from Brunswick High School. After high school, he served honorably in WWII as a B-24 bombardier-navigator in the Army Air Corp. He then attended Bowdoin College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1950. Guy married Helen Herrick in 1948. They moved from base to base while he served our country again training on B-52’s during the Korean conflict. After Korea, the family returned home to Maine where Guy became a high school principal at Vinalhaven, Bristol, and Wiscasset. At Wiscasset, Guy coached the track team to win the Class-S Maine State Championship in 1956, ’57, and ’58.
While a student at Bowdoin and then again during summers while a principal, Guy supported his growing family working as a lobsterman.
In the 1960s, after his high school teaching career, Guy joined NASA to help promote the new space program.
Guy came back to Harpswell and built the first shrimp processing plant in Maine.
He wrote and loved to recite poetry. He played the violin and was an extremely talented and beloved husband, father, and grandfather.
He is survived by his wife Helen; sister, Mary Ganske of Cundy’s Harbor; seven children, Helene, Guy, Herrick, Springli, Heather, Pandora, and Athena; 22 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
A memorial gathering held this summer, time and location to be announced.
