Earl David Johnson

Mr. Earl David Johnson, 93, died Sunday, January 15, 2012, at his residence. Services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 18, 2012, at Brown Chapel AME Church in Union City, with Rev. Clay Holiday and Elder Curtis McLendon officiating. Interment will follow in East View Cemetery. Friends may call 5-8 p.m. Tuesday at Rawls Funeral Home in Union City. He was born August 17, 1918, in South Fulton, son of the late Sammie (Thompson) and Herbert Johnson Sr. He was a member of Brown Chapel AME Church and was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran who had been a cook. He had been married to the former Louise Patterson, who preceded him in death. He was the first African-American to serve on the Union City city council and was a retired employee of the former Reelfoot Packing Co., where he worked for 32 years and had perfect attendance. He was a graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Nashville and had been a longtime mortician for the former Board’s Funeral Home in Union City. He is survived by his daughter, Kathy B. Johnson of Union City; his son and daughter-in-law, David R. and Carianna Johnson of LaVergne; three granddaughters, Donnetta L. Johnson of Smyrna, Kristy L. Johnson of Greenfield and Alexis N. Johnson of Nashville; two great-grandchildren, Bailey Karen Defebbo of Smyrna and Summer Lynn Johnson of Greenfield; his brother, Herbert Johnson Jr. of South Fulton; two sisters, Bertha Mitchell of Carbondale, Ill., and Pearl Partee of Chicago; his brother-in-law, James Warford of Union City; and several nieces and nephews. He was also preceded in death by two brothers, Charles Johnson and Archie Johnson; and two sisters, Relma Woods and Marie Warford. Rawls Funeral Home – Union City 731-885-8110