Robert Hill Johnson endowment donations
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
SPARTA, Tenn. – To Bill Johnson, he bled Purple and Gold as much as he bled Orange and White. While he never suited up for the Tennessee Tech football team, he had been one of the Golden Eagles' biggest supporters.
As he passed away on Sunday at the age of 84, Johnson leaves behind a tremendous legacy with Tech, from the Robert Hill Johnson Award and the endowment named after his brother, to three grandchildren –Thomas, Robert Hill and John Bronson – all suiting up for the Golden Eagles and much, much more.
"To express what Bill Johnson and his family has meant to Tennessee Tech football and the entire athletics family could fill volumes," said Tech Director of Athletics Mark Wilson. "For nearly 70 years – almost three-fourths of the program's entire history – his support of our football team has known no bounds.
"His brother was – and continues to be – a tremendous inspiration to our student-athletes who don our colors. Bill continued those efforts and created opportunities for future student-athletes to join our program to follow in those footsteps."
Wilson continued, "What Johnson has done for our program over these many years is amazing. He's been a major friend to Tennessee Tech and will be missed greatly."
Johnson played for the University of Tennessee and earned All-American status as a three-year letterwinner and two-year starter at center. In 1957, he was the first Volunteer player to earn both All-America and Academic All-America honors in the same year and only one of three players in program history to accomplish the feat – Bob Johnson in 1967 and Peyton Manning in 1997.
He was also a first-team all-Southeastern Conference selection that season. Johnson also helped lead Bowden Wyatt's squad to a No. 2-finish in the polls and an SEC title the year before in 1956.
His connection to Tennessee Tech, however, started before that.
Johnson's brother, Robert Hill Johnson, played football at Alabama, but a shoulder injury ended his playing career. The White County native transferred to Tech – then Tennessee Polytechnic Institute – in 1951 and joined the coaching staff as a student assistant for Golden Eagle head coach Star Wood, overseeing the offensive and defensive ends.
But after one season, on January 14, 1952, Johnson's life was cut short. Robert Hill Johnson was killed instantly when his car crashed into a concrete bridge railing at Cripple Creek, about seven miles east of Murfreesboro on U.S. Highway 70.
Eleven days later, the Tech student newspaper, The Oracle, tells Robert Hill Johnson's story, stating that he "exemplified all that is fine and good in the great game of football." In his honor the Robert Hill Johnson Award – Tech football's highest honor – was established and Bill Johnson presented the plaque to Tech President Everett Derryberry at halftime of Tech's 1952 Thanksgiving Day game against Middle Tennessee.
From that day – with end Flavious Smith being named the first recipient for the 1951 season, all the way to quarterback Bailey Fisher as the 2019 recipient – some of the brightest stars of the Golden Eagle program have received the award.
Johnson went to school in White County, until his senior year when he transferred to Chattanooga's The Baylor School and earned a football scholarship to Tennessee.
Following his time as a Volunteer and earning his degree in business administration/finance in 1958, Johnson served in the U.S. Army for two years, then entered the Tennessee National Guard for a six-year stint, earning the rank of first lieutenant.
He returned home to Sparta to work at First National Bank, eventually becoming both a member of the board of directors, then president. He served as the Tennessee vice-president of the American Bankers Association and director of the Federal Reserve Bank in Nashville. After retiring from the banking industry, he became a consultant and investor in Meridian Aggregates in Denver with college teammate and friend Tommy Bronson. Johnson later became a consultant with HealthTrust.
In 1972, the Tennessee Jaycees named Johnson its "Outstanding Young Man of the Year," and he also devoted time to the Boy Scout Council of Middle Tennessee, as well as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life and Cru.
Johnson served on Tennessee's Athletics Board from 1972-74 and was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1975, then as vice chairman from 1987 to 1991 before retiring in 1996. He was a member and director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, as well as a director for the East Tennessee chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.
His family's history in Sparta traces back to the early 1800s with their family farm going back at least 125 years. He gave back in many ways to his hometown community, including service as an alderman and vice-mayor of Sparta, as well as president of the Upper Cumberland Development Association and director of the Sparta/White County Chamber of Commerce.
Johnson is survived by his wife, Rena, who he met as a student at Tennessee, three daughters and their husbands – Cynthea and Buz Amason, Cathryn and Billy Rolfe and Carolyn and Tom Bronson – and 11 grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Bilbrey Farms (1209 Gum Springs Mountain Road, Sparta, Tenn.), with a celebration of life service on Friday at 2 p.m. at Duck Pond Manor (665 Duck Pond Road, Sparta, Tenn.).
In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the Robert Hill Johnson Award Endowment at this link. For more information on donations, contact Tech Athletics Director of Annual Giving/Stewardship Kristie Phillips at (931) 372-6857 or via e-mail at kphillips@tntech.edu.
Donations can be made as well as the YMCA of Sparta or the Upper Cumberland chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
