Obituary of Enoch Randolph Johnson

Enoch Randolph Johnson was born on June 2, 1946, in Palmetto, Florida, to John Wesley Johnson and Ida Laura Brown, the second-to-youngest son of what would be a family of 15. He was raised in Palmetto and Sarasota and attended Lincoln Memorial High School where he was student body president. Nicknamed “Hawkeye”, he was #40 on his high school football team and played as a defensive halfback. Enoch graduated from Lincoln Memorial in 1965 as valedictorian of his class. After high school, Enoch enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and moved to California for boot camp. Although he never moved back to Florida, Enoch always retained his love for his hometown and enjoyed returning for the annual family reunion for many years. While still stateside at Camp Pendleton, Enoch saw his future wife, Wanda, for the first time on June 10, 1966, at 10:11 a.m. The following month he was deployed to Vietnam, travelling there via Alaska and Japan. He served as a Marine in Vietnam for one year and eight days and was loved and well respected by his fellow soldiers who referred to him as “a good Marine”. He was promoted three times during his deployment and received the Presidential Unit Citation which is awarded for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy. He was also awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. He was very grateful to have reconnected with his platoon in his later years and had several heartfelt reunions with them. After leaving the service, Enoch attended the University of California – Los Angeles where he discovered his love for computers and earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering. He began working for the City of Los Angeles upon graduation and married Wanda Smith on March 14, 1974. They raised their four children in Altadena, California, and after brief stops in Baltimore, Maryland and Hillsboro, Oregon, they eventually settled down in Mesa, Arizona. Enoch worked for Wells Fargo Bank as a computer systems analyst for over 30 years, learning and utilizing over 100 programing languages. He also taught English to adult learners at night for several years. He retired in 2009 but could still often be found in his home office working on various computer projects. He was a lifelong Trekkie, a fisherman, a fierce game competitor, and could fix anything you put in front of him. He was a generous man who was always helping others and he continuously opened up his home to family and friends who needed a place to stay. He also started the Brown-Sanders Scholarship Fund which awarded scholarships at his family reunion every year to help students pay for college. And although he seemed like a quiet and pensive man, Enoch was very funny and a great storyteller. All you needed was the right topic to get him talking for hours about growing up in Florida, serving in Vietnam, courting his wife, or anything related to computers. Enoch is survived by Wanda Johnson, his wife of 45 years; his children Tony Golden, Laura Johnson, Talia Colley (Max), Randi Taylor, and Katrina Graves-Johnson; his sisters Queen Ousley, Eliza Flucker, and Helen Harrington; his brother David Johnson; his grandchildren Blair, Sydney, Tiffani, Tony Jr., Josiah, Ammar, Candace, Alexandria, Isaiah, Eden, and Elijah; and his great-granddaughter Aliyya along with countless nephews, nieces, and other extended family he deeply loved.