Chuck Johnson, former WHLI DJ and politico, dead at 80 BY MICHELINE MARONI
January 26, 2010
Love blossomed at Hempstead radio station WHLI the day news writer and announcer Chuck Johnson, then 30 years old, met music librarian Judy Ricci, then 20.
They married in 1958 after 10 months of dating. And they were just four months shy of celebrating their 50th anniversary when he died, at age 80, of congestive heart failure Sunday at his Bethpage home surrounded by his family.
“Everybody who knew Chuck got to experience the phenomenal man he was,” said his wife, Judy Johnson.
Charles D. Johnson was born in Larchmont on Feb. 20, 1928. He attended Fordham University before earning a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from Manhattan College in 1949.
After serving in the U.S. Army, working in the intelligence division, Chuck Johnson combined his degree and love of entertaining and landed jobs in radio.
Johnson captured listeners by impersonating famous people like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable and the Kennedy brothers, Ted and John, said his son, Matthew Johnson of Bethpage.
He was also a gifted writer and poet. After JFK’s assassination, Johnson shared a story he wrote about the late president on the air, said Judy Johnson. And that rerouted him into the world of politics because it caught the ear of then-Nassau County Democratic Party chairman Jack English. Johnson started as a public relations person in 1960 for the Town of Oyster Bay’s then-Supervisor Michael Petito.
He retired in 1998 as deputy supervisor for Oyster Bay Town serving under then-Supervisor Lewis Yevoli.
The Johnsons’ neighbor of 25 years and fellow Democrat Angela Mellody said she used to love discussing politics with him. “Chuck was always a delight,” Mellody said. “He had great stories.”
Although Johnson was an important man at work, relatives said he was equally as important at home. Judy Johnson remembered her husband changing diapers, taking the two boys to sporting events and chauffeuring their two daughters.
“He would do anything for you,” Matthew Johnson said.
Chuck Johnson was also the president of the Little Midget football team in Bethpage, known as the Bethpage Panthers, and was an avid bowler, said Matthew Johnson.
Most of all, his son said, he looked forward to watching reruns of “The Honeymooners” with his father and going for weekend breakfasts together.
Besides his wife and son Matthew, he is survived by daughter Vickie Knauf of Orlando, Fla., son Christopher Johnson of Patchogue, daughter Jen Farahat of Lynbrook and four grandchildren.
After today’s 11 a.m. service at Arthur F. White Funeral Home in Bethpage, he will be buried with military honors at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton.
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Johnson, Charles D. [MC1949 RIP]
Guestbook: None
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