Michael Eric Johnson

Michael Eric Johnson died Thursday evening, October 24, at Vanderbilt University Health Center in Nashville, Tennessee. His wife and children were able to spend his last hours with him.

Michael was born on February 20, 1946, in Evanston, Illinois, to Nels Howard and Elizabeth Haan Johnson. With his four siblings, he grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, graduating from Maine East High School in 1964 before enrolling at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, where he met Marcie McGurren. They married on May 17, 1969.

He enjoyed challenging expectations. At Maine East, he was the first freshman to earn a letter, in swimming. After graduation from EIU, he joined the Springfield, Illinois, branch of Xerox Corporation as their first new-college-graduate hire. Within his first year as a sales representative, he earned recognition as one of Xerox’s top salespeople nationwide. His branch manager encouraged him to earn a Master of Business Administration; Michael instead pursued a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) despite having had only one undergraduate art class. The Department of Art at Northern Illinois University accepted him conditionally on the basis of a portfolio, and he received the M.F.A. in painting and photography in 1971. The department then broke its own proscription against hiring new graduates, and he joined the Northern Illinois University art faculty to teach photography and cinematography. 

In 1973, he was offered a position teaching photography and cinema at Murray State University, succeeding Clara Eagle, who had established the photography program in the art department. In 1974, he initiated the Magic Silver Show, an international juried photo competition that continues today in memory of Elena Diane Curris. In 1990, he taught at Sunderland University (then the Sunderlund Polytechnic University) in England through an exchange program overseen by Murray State’s Center for International Programs. Michael taught full time at MSU until 2010, when he retired as a full professor.

During summer breaks, he sought experiences (and photography opportunities) far afield. He spent several months as a roustabout on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. Between 1977-2000, he taught a number of summer sessions in Bregenz, Austria, for the Kentucky Institute of European (later International) Studies.

He also renovated houses, coached recreation league soccer and the Murray Calloway County swim team, taught his children to share his enjoyment of camping, fishing, cooking, skiing, driving stick shift, science, science fiction, history, popular music, invention, film, debate, and jokes. He was especially fond of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where his family had vacationed during his childhood; where he and his wife honeymooned; and where they continued to visit with their children as they grew.

In addition to his parents, Michael had suffered the loss of both his brother Jim and his brother David. He is survived by his sister Lisa (Peter) Aceto, as well as many nieces and nephews.

He is survived, too, by his wife, Marcie, his sons Peter (Laura) and Caleb (Heather), and daughter Elizabeth (James) Carder, as well as eight grandchildren—Leah and Zoe Johnson; Luke, Aaron, and Lorelei Johnson; Jude, Ezra, and Isla Carder.

Because Michael did not enjoy ceremonies or formalities, his family is planning several memorial gatherings in 2025 in lieu of a funeral.

Friends who wish to offer expressions of sympathy might send a donation in his name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital [https://www.stjude.org/donate] or to Tiger Christmas [Murray Family Resource Center/ 801 Main St. Murray, Ky 42071 or https://bit.ly/TigerLakerChristmas2024]

The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home and Cremation Services are in charge of arrangements.