[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2106]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         TRIBUTE TO ED JOHNSON

 Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, this past Monday, the Ohio 
agriculture community lost a dear friend with the passing of Ed 
Johnson. He was not only a friend of mine, he was a wonderful human 
being.
  Ed Johnson grew up on a dairy farm in Fairfield County, Ohio. From 
the time he was a young boy, Ed realized that the only way to get ahead 
in life was through honest, hard work. This philosophy translated 
itself into a tremendous work ethic, which, combined with his robust 
energy and love for farming, made Ed an enthusiastic and well-regarded 
spokesman for Ohio farmers.
  With a background in agricultural economics and agricultural 
education, Ed started out his professional life as a teacher before 
joining the Ohio Farm Bureau as Organizational Director for Fairfield, 
Pickaway and Ross Counties. He worked hard on behalf of ``his'' farmers 
and was a great source of agricultural information for both farmers and 
non-farmers alike. It was while he served at Ohio Farm Bureau that he 
discovered he had a real knack for radio, reporting on Farm Bureau 
events, then sporting events and farm market news.
  Ed, it seems, had found his niche. He took his love of farming, 
combined it with his communication skills, and became a true media 
entrepreneur. He assumed the risk of starting up his own radio network, 
ABN, Agri Broadcasting Network, and developed a multi-state service to 
small stations by delivering market news and covering agricultural 
events. It wasn't long before Ed became an accomplished radio 
personality. As his success grew, he developed an early industry 
service of up-linking and down-linking sporting events for major radio, 
WBNS Columbus being one such station.
  Ed also branched out into television, hosting his own weekly morning 
show, Agri Country, which aired in Ohio and three other states. With Ed 
at the helm, Agri Country has been popular to both farming and non-
farming audiences since 1982.
  In addition to his radio and television work, Ed advanced agriculture 
with ``Ohio's Country Journal,'' a monthly publication that, even 
though it struggled for its first few years, has blossomed as 
readership numbers shot up. It is now ``the'' farm publication for 
Ohio's agriculture.
  Ed's great contributions to agricultural media were surpassed only by 
his humanitarian giving in terms of his leadership and his time. His 
unselfish dedication to further the causes of his alma mater, the Ohio 
State University, the 4-H Foundation, the Future Farmers of America, 
and all Ohio farmers for that matter, were unparalleled.
  Ed's personal caring and concern for society and his fellow man made 
him an outstanding communicator. Ed could talk with anyone--rich man or 
poor man; farm hand or a nation's president--he had an uncanny ability 
to put anyone he talked to totally at ease.
  Throughout the years, I came to rely on Ed's knowledge of Ohio 
agriculture and his viewpoint on the agricultural situation throughout 
the state of Ohio. I appreciated his tireless efforts to promote 
agribusiness both within the state and nationwide.
  Because of Ed's contribution to agriculture in the State of Ohio, I 
was pleased to induct him into Ohio's Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1997. 
On that occasion, I said ``I don't think there's anyone in the state 
who is more readily identifiable with agriculture by the average person 
than Ed.'' Indeed.
  I've often said that it's not the number of years that one lives, but 
what one does with those years that counts. In his sixty-three years, 
Ed lived his life to the fullest, and in so doing, touched the lives of 
countless individuals. Ed took risks, celebrated his successes and 
learned from his defeats, and, through it all, Ed never lost his focus, 
his positive attitude, nor his ever-present grin. There is no one 
comparable, and the void his loss has created in Ohio will not soon be 
filled.
  Ed Johnson has been taken from us too early, and I will miss him. It 
is my hope that his wife, Marilyn, his children, Julie and Bart, his 
foster daughter Julie, his grandchildren--Adam, Eric, Nathan, Sarah, 
Elizabeth, Gage and Lauren--his brothers and sister and his entire 
family will take comfort in the knowledge that Ed is with our Father in 
Heaven.

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