Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1924, to Russell Kennedy Johnson (1901–1932) and Marion Wenonah Smink Johnson (1902–1976).
Johnson was the eldest of seven siblings: Kenneth Walter Johnson (1925–2012), David Reed Johnson (1926–1976), Lois Marion Johnson (1927–1928), Lorraine Johnson Crosby (1928-2015), Marion Joan Johnson Reeves (1930–2010), and Paul Wesley Johnson (1932–1933). His father Russell died of lobar pneumonia and influenza on December 13, 1932, and his brother Paul also died of lobar pneumonia on January 5 the following year. His mother Minnie remarried after 10 years
to Thomas S. Lewis.
As a teenager, Johnson attended Girard College, a private boarding school for fatherless boys, located in Philadelphia.

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