Retired Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Tom Johnson, a former state attorney and state senator known for his sense of humor and folksy, informal style on the bench, died Tuesday. He was 76.
Judge Johnson was a native of Palm Beach County. His father, A.R. Johnson, arrived from East St. Louis, Ill., in 1922 and opened his law practice in the Comeau Building on Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach. He would become the patriarch of three generations of lawyers.
West Palm Beach attorney John Remsen, a childhood friend of Tom “Red” Johnson’s since grade school, remembers well his friend’s devious sense of humor. Both men intentionally held themselves back in high school for a second senior year in a bid to play another year of varsity football, Remsen said, but they were disqualified.
Judge Johnson, accompanied by Remsen, tossed a cherry bomb down a stairwell into the cafeteria of Lake Worth High School that year. It didn’t land near anyone, but the explosion scared the daylights out of students. Remsen was class president, and the principal wanted him to find out who was behind it.
“I said, ‘I will get to the bottom of it.’ He said, ‘You know that redheaded boy you hang out with? Get him to help you.’ I said, ‘Yes sir, we’ll get right on it,'” Remsen said, adding the perpetrator remained at large. “Never found him. Very mysterious.”
Both men enlisted in the Army and Marines on the same day in 1946, but went with the Marines because they could go to boot camp together. After their service, they graduated from the University of Miami with law degrees, and Judge Johnson first joined his father’s law firm and then Remsen’s.
Judge Johnson served as an assistant county solicitor, a prosecutor for all crimes except murder and rape, beginning in 1955 and was appointed state attorney by the governor in 1964 and served a four-year term. He won all 35 of his murder trials.
“Tom was a real smart guy and a hard worker, and whatever he did, he did real well. He tried cases real well,” said retired Palm Beach County Court Judge Dave Clark, who served on the bench with Judge Johnson and in the state Legislature from 1970-74.
“He really was an awesome guy to know and be mentored by,” said Judge Johnson’s son, West Palm Beach attorney Joe Johnson. “As we grew older, he became not only a father figure to us but a contemporary and almost another brother.”
Judge Johnson won a circuit court seat in 1978 and retired in 1993. He recalled that his favorite trial was a two-day event that was marked by a complete lack of objections from the attorneys.
“Tom was a hell of a good judge,” said West Palm Beach trial attorney Bob Montgomery, one of the lawyers in that case. “Really erudite but down to earth. He was the kind of guy you wanted as a judge.”
Judge Johnson asked Montgomery how long his closing argument would be. Montgomery, who had practiced the night before, told the judge 29 minutes.
“After I was done, he called me up to the bench. He said, ‘You know, you were right on the button.’ We had a lot of laughs,” Montgomery said. “He was such a delight to practice in front of. They don’t make them like that anymore.”
Judge Johnson and his wife of 49 years, Audrey, raised five sons on Singer Island. Three of them went on to practice law. In addition to his wife and son, Judge Johnson is survived by sons Tom Jr., Bill, Bob, Joe and John; his brother William and seven grandchildren.
The family will receive friends 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Quattlebaum Funeral Home, 1201 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach. A Mass of the Resurrection will be at 4 p.m. Monday at St. Jude Catholic Church, 47 River Drive, Tequesta. In lieu of flowers, the family would like a short note with a favorite memory of Judge Johnson.
Peter Franceschina can be reached at or 561-832-2894.
