RIP Bob Johnson

With sadness, I post the following from an email I just received from Mark Clark of Jamestown. Our chess friend Bob Johnson has passed away.

Here is his obituary from the Jamestown Post-Journal. Robert C. Johnson, 47, of Westman Road, Bemus Point, N.Y., formerly of Cushing Street, Fredonia, N.Y., died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, after a brief illness at Millard Filmore Gates Circle Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y. He was born Aug. 21, 1961, the son of the late Carl Eric and Harriet (Carlson) Johnson. He grew up and lived most of his life on the Johnson homestead in Bemus Point, N.Y. He was a 1979 graduate of Bemus Point Central School, attended Jamestown Community College and Renssalaer Poly Tech Institute and was a 1983 graduate of State University at Fredonia. He was a former computer programmer employee of Crawford Furniture of Jamestown, and DFT Communications of Fredonia, N.Y. He was a member of First Lutheran Church of Jamestown and later attended Fluvanna Community Church and Portland Congregational Church. His life interest and hobby was in the game of chess. He won many local and regional tournaments and was a New York State Class A Chess Champion and a longtime teacher of chess at the Jamestown Boys and Girls Club. He was a truly beloved husband, son, brother-in-law, uncle and friend. He is survived by his wife, Ginger Lee Spiller Johnson, the daughter of the Rev. Gordon and Cheryl Spiller of Portland, N.Y., whom he married March 18, 2006. Funeral services will be held Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, at 11 a.m. from the Portland Congregational Church. The Rev. Dale Keefer of Fluvanna Community Church will officiate. Friends are invited to call today at the Morse Funeral Home of Brocton from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Interment will be in the Oakland Cemetery, Warren, Pa. The family suggest memorial may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Jamestown, N.Y. or the Portland Congregational Church of Portland.

Charles Ferraro-President of the Westfield Chess Club, had this to say about him

"Everyone who's been to the Westfield or Jamestown Chess Clubs knows Bob Johnson as a fine friend and dedicated chess player and chess teacher. Bob was the kindest man I have met in a long while. He clearly loved the game of chess and wanted others to love it as much as he did. He was a team player, self-effacing, steady, and dependable, always ready to sacrifice his own needs to those of others. He would run to the task that others shied away from and do it with a light spirit and a sense of purpose. He always had the time to play a game of chess with a rank beginner, and to turn that game into a memorable chess lesson. In the short time I knew him, he left an indelible impression on me."