Kendrick Rogers Johnson, 81, husband of Betty Stenhouse Johnson, died Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center in Sumter.
Born Dec. 23, 1933, in Lynchburg, Virginia, "Ken" was a son of the late Henry Lawson Johnson and Feriba Cooper Johnson.
He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Virginia, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in English. He worked for the Pageland Journal for a brief period before being called up into active duty from the Army Reserve. He married Betty Stenhouse in 1956.
In 1958, he bought The Manning Times from the Appelt family with two partners and served as publisher and editor until 1972, when he sold the paper to Banner Publishers of Camden.
Mr. Johnson had another brief period of active military duty in New Orleans when the reserves were called up for the Cuban Missile Crisis. After leaving the newspaper industry, he studied library science at the University of South Carolina, receiving a master's degree.
A year or two later, he opened Carolina Office Supply in Manning and operated it until about 1984.
He was an active member of the Manning Rotary Club and took a great deal of pleasure in visiting with other Rotary clubs when he traveled. He worked to encourage local business through the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce in the 1970s. An avid reader, he served on the board of the Clarendon County Library Commission and helped establish the county's first public library in 1977.
He was a member of the Presbyterian Church at Manning. He enjoyed woodworking, gardening, camping and tinkering with electronics or nearly anything else with moving parts.
Survivors besides his wife of 58 years include two sons, Bruce A. Johnson (Janis Linkov-Johnson) of Herndon, Virginia and Brian K. Johnson (Darby Drafts) of Melrose, Massachusetts; a daughter, Jenny Johnson Aycock (Robert James IV) of Sumter; six grandchildren, Caroline Aycock of Columbia, April Drafts-Johnson of Melrose, C. Briggs Aycock of Sumter, Lilah Drafts-Johnson of Melrose, Alicja Johnson of Herndon and Adam Drafts-Johnson of Melrose.
A memorial service for Kendrick Rogers Johnson will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, at the Presbyterian Church at Manning, with the Rev. Dr. George Wilkes officiating.
Memorials may be made to the Harvin Clarendon County Library, 215 N. Brooks Street, Manning, SC 29102.
Stephens Funeral Home and Crematory, 304 N. Church Street in Manning, is in charge of arrangements for Kendrick Rogers Johnson, (803) 435-2179.
