Obituary of Jack Johnson, III

Jack Johnson III, 85, of Robbinsville, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on September 8th, surrounded by his family. Jack was born in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated from Germantown High School in 1955. He went on to attend the Spring Garden College of Technology, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also received his certification in Comprehensive Business Management from the University of Pennsylvania. During his time at Spring Garden College, he worked for the Reading Railroad. After graduating, he was drafted and served his country in the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command Missile and Bomber Squad Unit. Following his military service, Jack continued to pursue his engineering background and landed a prestigious job in Poughkeepsie, NY, with IBM as an Industrial Engineer facilitating the manufacturing of IBM mainframe computers. While in Poughkeepsie, he met his wife, Denise Alice Love, they were married for 30 years while raising four children. An active member within the community as Executive Director of Poughkeepsie, NY, OIC, his path eventually led him to Trenton, NJ, after being recruited to spearhead the development of black entrepreneurship within the community for the Progress Association for Economic Development Program, bringing his brother Donald with him. He had a gift for seeing potential in people that they may not have recognized within themselves. When he believed in something, he was committed to motivating those he cared for to achieve it. As a result of his work through the Economic Development Program, he and his brother Donald earned the opportunity to take ownership to run Trenton Packaging Company as Key Operational Managers. For the next 5 years, they had contracted projects with the likes of Johnson & Johnson, Shell Chemical Company, Avon, etc. After running a business Jack moved on to work at Carter Wallace as a Production Manager and eventually decided to change career paths to work within the finance industry until his retirement 26 years later. He was diligent in building up his own private practice through Acacia Financial Group, American Express Financial, Inc., and Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. As he did throughout his entire life, he became one of a select few to achieve the elite certification as a Certified Financial Planner, CFP, and was one of the first black male professionals to receive this license/credential in New Jersey. Jack served his clients with compassion and in wanting them to have a secure financial future for generations. As a retired CFP, Jack still used his financial wisdom for community outreach, and pro-bono financial counseling under his consulting firm ‘Commonsense Financial Planning’. Jack was in the midst of authoring a financial guide under the title of a motto he would always quote – ‘Your Health is Your Wealth’ – A Wholistic Guide to achieving your Financial Success. Jack was great at building relationships, he considered himself a ‘financial therapist’ and has many clients who consider Jack a dear friend. Jack had a love and discipline for martial arts, he achieved the status of a black belt through many years of training and competitions. He loved physical wellness and appreciated the outdoors. He loved camping and canoeing in his early years, he was a troop leader in the Boy Scouts of America. Jack's son Kobie became an elite soccer player starting at around age 5; this was greatly due to Jack deciding to be a youth soccer coach so he could be a hands-on mentor for Kobie and his teammates. His team through his leader were league champions for many seasons. Jack was very intellectual; he loved reading and listening to audiobooks; his favorite topics to read and understand were history, government, and politics. Jack also enjoyed singing, aside from showing off his vocals around the house filling the home with sounds of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra; he was a member of The Church of St. Ann's adult choir for many years. He was also an active participant in St. Ann's Knights of Columbus, Council 7000. In later years Jack lost his eyesight but as always Jack remained resilient and was successful in maintaining a great deal of his independence and social activities. He spent almost two months years ago training with his special friend ‘Nova’, she was a beautiful black Labrador that was his seeing dog companion who helped him get around. Jack was the son of the late Jack and Mildred, husband of the late Denise A. Johnson, and brother of the late David Johnson. He was also the grandfather of the late Avery King Johnson. He is survived by his children: Jahmal, Maisha, Kobie, and Shauri; his grandchildren: Aaron, Ja’Kai, Jayden, and Admire; his siblings: Donald, Charlotte, and Sheila; and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2023, at 11:00 AM at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. The viewing for Jack will be held on Saturday morning from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the funeral home. Interment will be private. In Lieu of Flowers please donate or sponsor the following organizations: https://donate.cancer.org/ or https://www.nsbe.org/donate - National Society of Black Engineers, or https://www.aaafainc.com - Associate of African American Financial Advisors (join or become a sponsor) or New Jersey Commission for the Blind - Call 877-685-8878 or askcbvi@dhs.nj.gov for how to support National Federation for the Blind: outreach@nfb.org; 410-659-9314, option 4 for donations