Dr. Charles "Chuck" Johnson, 74, died on March 13, 2014 at 12:37 p.m. at Lima Memorial Health System in Lima, Ohio.
He was born on May 24, 1939 to Henry and Orleone (Olson) Johnson, who preceded him in death.
Charles graduated from Windom High School in Windom, Minn., in 1957. Following graduation, Charles attended the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis to become a baker.
After graduation from Dunwoody, he enlisted in the Navy with hopes of serving as a baker. However, due to his typing skills, Charles was assigned the role of yeoman (clerk typist) for the U.S. Navy. He served four years, with 2.5 of those years in Japan. Charles then went to the Brown Institute in Minneapolis to become a radio announcer. He became an announcer in Mobridge, S.D., followed by a position in Minneapolis at a classical music station. He later moved to California and after a brief stint at an insurance company, utilized the G.I. Bill to attend college.
Charles earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University at Long Beach and a Ph. D. from Purdue University. He joined Ohio Northern University in 1977 as an instructor in Communications Arts, was promoted to assistant professor in 1981, associate professor in 1988, and professor in 1996. He was the coach of the University speech team from 1977-1995, where his team won numerous honors.
He held the Eleanor H. and Robert W. Biggs Chair in Arts and received the College of Arts and Sciences Excellent Teaching Award in 1983-84. Charles retired from the university in 2001 with the rank of Professor in Communication Arts at Ohio Northern University and later attained the rank of Professor Emeritus.
Charles was an avid international and national traveler and loved classical music. Chuck was extremely active as a retiree of the ONU community.
Survivors include a brother, Leland (Sigrid) Johnson of Owatonna, Minn.; a niece Sara (Dain) Jensen: a nephew, Michael (Jodi Swenson) Johnson; and two great nephews, Oscar and Henrik.
Private services will be held at a later date.
