Br. John Joseph

John Calvin Johnston was born on November 10, 1933, in Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Little Flower Grade School and Christian Brothers High School. Upon graduation he entered the Novitiate at La Salle Institute in Glencoe and completed his undergraduate studies at St. Mary’s College in Winona in 1955. His first teaching assignment took him to Christian Brothers High School in St. Joseph, Missouri, from 1955 to 1958 when he was assigned for a year to De La Salle Institute in Chicago, Illinois. In 1959 he was assigned to the La Salle Institute where for the next three years he taught on the Juniorate and Novitiate staff. In 1961 he was appointed to the Scholasticate in Memphis and a year later to the Scholasticate in Winona, Minnesota. In 1963 he traveled to Rome, Italy, to participate in the 2nd Novitiate Program of the Institute. Upon his return to the United States in 1964, Brother John was appointed Principal of Costa High School in Galesburg, Illinois. Four years later he was assigned to the House of Studies in St. Louis, Missouri, and a year later, in 1969, he was again in Rome attending the CIL Program. Upon his return to the St. Louis District he was appointed Director of the Scholasticate in Memphis, Tennessee. Two years later he was elected Brother Visitor of the St. Louis, District and in 1976, while attending the Chapter in Rome, he was elected Vicar General of the Institute. He served in that capacity for ten years until his election as Superior General in 1986. He was twice elected Superior General and served in Rome, Italy, for twenty-four years until 2000 when he returned to the United States, living in the De La Salle Community in Chicago, Illinois. Until his death he served as special La Sallian Educational Consultant for the Region and the Institute. He moved home to Memphis in 2003 and resided in the Lambert Hall Community until his death from cancer. He was 74 years of age and had been a De La Salle Christian Brother for 56 years.