WILLOUGHBY SYLVESTER JOHNSON JR. was born August 9, 1947, in Port Gibson, Mississippi to the union of Rose O. Johnson and Willoughby S. Johnson Sr.

After his father’s death, Willoughby’s mother, Rose Johnson later married Charles Kendall and in 1957, the family moved to Los Angeles, California. Willoughby attended Twenty Eight Street Elementary, John Adams Junior High and Jefferson High School.

He earned a scholarship to UC Berkeley where he was one of the team’s star basketball players. After his college studies, he was employed by Long Beach Naval Shipyard where he went through a 4 year pipefitting apprenticeship program where he was at the top of his class and later promoted to the Department of Planning and Estimating. He would later transfer to the NAVY SUP ships first command in San Diego California, where he worked overlooking government contracts and certifying workmanship of contractors. He also served as a Union Representative. His employment allowed him the opportunity to travel to Spain, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Philippines and St John Virgin Islands. He spent 8 to 10 years on the various aircraft carriers, USS Independence, USS Range, USS Midway and USS Constellation, (non-commissioned ships).

He married Claudia Moore and from this union they had three children, L’Dawn, Charles and Kimberly. He later married Brenda Pork with whom he had one child, Dalron.

Willoughby loved all his family members, especially his children and grandchildren. He made sure they had what they needed and often driving long distances to help them and other family members. If he was unable to help, he was determined to find someone who could. He was a very special person to many of us; Montrail who unconditionally provided a lot of his physical therapy, his daughter in-law Julie who would lotion massage his feet, and his Aunt Jessie who shared lots of family history with him. One of his favorite past times was watching movies, especially old ones. He enjoyed working on cars, trucks and was handy with plumbing and other general maintenance repairs. There was nothing he would not try to fix!

Willoughby departed this life early Tuesday morning, August 20, 2013. He leaves behind precious memories and cherished loved ones. Wife Brenda Pops Charles Kendall (Flora) children, L’Dawn, Charles (Julie), Kimberly, Dalron, Darrell, Montrail sisters, Gretchen, Linda, LaVicia (Anthony) grandchildren, Christopher, Michael, Layana, Noelle, Arielle, Ethan, Dominic, Arionne, Christian, Noah, Jordon, Jermaine, Jeremy and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends who loved him dearly.

He was preceded in death by: father Willoughby Johnson Sr. mother Rose O. Kendall and brother Charles Kendall Jr.