Jon Johnson, you will be missed.

If they have e-mail in heaven, keep posting to culture-whore, alright?

The wake will be Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court St., Keene.

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Jon E. Johnson

Jon Erik Johnson, 43, of Wollaston, Mass., died unexpectedly Jan. 17, 2007, at his home.

He was born in Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 15, 1964, and lived in Rancho Cordova and Merced, Calif., Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and Hampton while his father was in the U.S. Air Force. He lived in North Swanzey after his father's retirement from the service.

He was a 1982 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover. He earned an associate degree's from New Hampshire College and was a 1987 honors graduate from Keene State College, earning a bachelor's degree in business and journalism. While attending Keene State and after graduation, he hosted a show on the college radio station and served as a disc jockey for a number of years.

After graduation from Keene State, he became manager at the Music Shop in the Colony Mill Marketplace in Keene. He served as business manager for Good News Christian Counseling Center until moving to Boston in 1997. At the time of his death, he was employed in the computer field by Computer Systems Corp. of Cambridge, Mass.

Mr. Johnson was a second-year student at Showa University in Boston, studying Japanese. He recently made three trips to Japan and was deeply attached to the Japanese culture and people. During the last few years, he made a close relationship with Izumi Terada of Nagahama, Japan, and was anticipating an engagement in the near future.

Mr. Johnson had a love of music and learned to play the acoustic guitar at a young age. He moved on to electric guitar, electric bass guitar and, eventually, to the love of his music life, the stand-up bass. He developed a great reputation for his bass playing and backup vocal ability in the Boston music scene and was a member of several successful bands. He played frequently with the noted Rex Trailer. He played and sang on several released albums, including a recent release by Nate Gibson and The Gashouse Gang.

He wrote articles for Country Time Magazine and earned the prestigious country music "Writer of the Year" award, presented in Nashville, Tenn. He never lost his roots of acoustic guitar and played and sang regularly at home and church as a member of The Johnson Boys, a gospel group consisting of himself, his brother and his father.

He was baptized within, and remained affiliated with, the Methodist Church. He appreciated and displayed a great knowledge of gospel music which he loved, and sang with great skill. He was a person of diverse interests and a deep love of people, friends and family, and maintained numerous hobbies.

Survivors include his parents, Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson and Maj. Arnold E. Johnson, USAF, retired, of North Swanzey; a brother, Scott Johnson of Auburndale, Mass.; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Richmond Community United Methodist Church, at the intersection of Routes 119 and 32 (parking is limited, so carpool if possible). Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery, Swanzey Center.

Friends are invited to call Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court St., Keene (www.foleyfuneralhome.com ).

Contributions may be made in Mr. Johnson's memory to the Jon E. Johnson Memorial Scholarship, in care of Ocean National Bank, Attention Rebecca, 122 West St., Keene 03431.