JOHNSON, William Alexander-Dr. - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Dr. William Alexander Johnson, age 78, died at 11:45 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at his residence in Perrysville, after returning from a house call about a block from his home. Death was attributed to a heart attack. The doctor. who had been in failing health for two years, was found by neighbors in the kitchen of his Perrysville home where he had lived alone since the death of his wife last year. Beside him was the medical case he had carried on the call to the neighbor's home shortly before. Dr. Johnson was born Nov. 5, 1888, near Stringtown, a son of James H. and Mary Eva Holland Johnson. He was married to Nelle Shute of the Perrysville area on June 28, 1916. She preceded him in death on Aug 31, 1961. He was a life resident of Vermillion and Fountain Counties. Dr. Johnson graduated from Cayuga High School and taught grade school before attending medical college at Loyola University in Chicago where he graduated in 1910. He served his internship in the hospital at the Jeffersonville Reformatory. Dr. Johnson began his practice in Perrysville in 1910. A special program at Perrysville High School in1958 honored Dr. Johnson for serving the medical needs of the community for a period of 50 years. The program was sponsored by the Perrysville Lions Club and included a testimonial to the doctor by many of the thousands of babies he delivered during his practice. He was a member of the American Medical Association, Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Vermillion County Historical Society, Society of Indiana Pioneers, Perrysville Methodist Church, Unity Lodge 344 F&AM , Vermilion County Past Masters Association, Perrysville Chapter 302 OES, Chapter and Council of Crawfordsville, Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, Ill.,Zorah Shrine at Terre Haute and Eastern Illinois Shrine Club. In earlier years, he had served on the board of directors for the Indiana Masonic Home. Survivors include two brothers, James M. of Danville, Ill., and Forrest H. of Freeport, NY and a sister, Mrs. Coral J Hughes of Pontiac, Ill.,and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife and one daughter, Harriet, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1921, and two sisters. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. today, Wednesday, at the Perrysville Methodist Church with the Rev. Floyd J. Crocker and the Rev. Earl Owens, officiating. Burial was in the Hicks Cemetery with the Bodine & Shelby Funeral Home in charge. Masonic rites were conducted by Unity Lodge 344.

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