Sylvester Johnson – Strouf Funeral Home

Sylvester Johnson was born to Sylvester Johnson and Ella Mae (nee Carnes) Johnson on December 26, 1939. He died peacefully in his sleep on September 15, 2025.  He was one of seven children born in the family. His parents preceded him in death along with his wife, Janie Johnson and sisters, Evelyn Clemons; Mary Benjamin; and a brother, Edward Johnson. Surviving is Verla Medcalf, Sandra Wiggins Johnson, and Anthony Johnson. He also leaves to mourn him a host of nephew and nieces. A special niece, Cheri Hinojosa and her husband, Isaac Hinojosa, took care of him in his last few years of his life.

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He spent the majority of his life living on the South side of Chicago. He was retired from SoftSheen – Carson Company in Chicago, Il after many years. He was interested in spiritual things and that led to his studying the Bible and being baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on May 12, 1962. He spent most of his spiritual life in the Dorchester Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Chicago. He met and was married later in life to Janie Mae Johnson (nee Hewlett). That marriage lasted 43 years until Janie’s death in 2015. There was a time is his life when he served in the congregation as an elder and as a regular pioneer with his wife, Janie, spending up to 100 hours a month talking to people about the Bible and conducting Bible studies for many years. He and Janie studied with his mother and aided her to the decision to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He relocated to Racine in 2020 to be near relatives. He was welcomed by the Lockwood Park Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even in the last few years of his life, he still enjoyed giving Bible reading assignments and public cart witnessing with his congregation.

The family of Sylvester would like to thank Dr. Naweed Chowdhury and his staff; Dr. Dajun Wang and his staff, Hope Souter and the staff at Kenwood Keyes; and the staff of Fresenius Dialysis Center of Racine, Wisconsin for the kindly care they provided to Sylvester.

All the calls and cards received from those who cared was very much appreciated.

A Zoom funeral has been scheduled for October 10, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. CDT.

Zoom Meeting ID: 7915515304

Zoom Passcode: 19181914