Mr. Johnson was born in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 1930, the son of Edward and Grace Atkinson Johnson. He grew up in Alexandria and attended the former George Washington High School where he was a top student and star athlete in football and track. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1953 and served in the U.S. Navy for two years, mainly in submarine maintenance and repair. He earned another degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University, and devoted his professional career to electrical engineering work on major projects throughout the world.
The company for which he worked, E.C. Ernst and Co. was a general and subcontractor for electrical work on building projects in Washington, including the Capitol, the FBI Building, the National Cathedral and The Kennedy Center, among others, and the Cape Canaveral (Fl.) Space Center, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, (Al.) and Tulane University Medical School. Abroad, he oversaw major projects in Spain, in South America and various airports, universities and government buildings in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Johnson and his wife, the former Elizabeth Hill, were married in 1955, and lived in Falls Church, Va., Atlanta, and Potomac, Md., before moving to Phippsburg in 2006.
Ed, as he was known to one and all, had a wide range of interests beyond the world of engineering. He read history and biographies of leading men and women from the Middle Ages to today, and loved discussing their accomplishments and idiosyncrasies. He was especially proud of his parents, both of whom were descended from immigrants to the United States, from Sweden on his father’s side, and England, on his mother’s. His father, Edward Sr., was a self-made man who went from working as an electrician to chief executive of a major electrical construction firm, respected by both union and management leaders. Ed credited his mother, an accomplished linguist who worked at the FBI for many years, with his interest in history and language.
He enjoyed regaling friends and relatives of his varied experiences — ranging from success at the Penn Relays as a high school track competitor to a memorable graduation address at Dartmouth by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to entertaining business and government leaders around the world. He was a connoisseur of seafood, and was familiar with most of the establishments in the Mid-coast that knew how to make lobster rolls properly.
In addition to his wife, Betty, an artist and native of Maine, he is survived by three children, Leslie Wyatt (Gary), of Washington, Stephanie Srour (David), Potomac, Md. and Eric (Cathy) Johnson, Bethesda, Md., and six grandchildren, Kevin, Allison, Paige, Mackenzie, Meredith and Kate. Plans for services are incomplete.
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