Arthur Charles Johnson Jr.

Arthur's funeral service will be live streamed from our Facebook  page at https://www.facebook.com/SmitsFH starting at 9:55 a.m. Central time.

Arthur Charles Johnson Jr. was a loving husband, a proud dad and a grandfather of 11. Art was a son, a brother, a father figure to others outside his family, and a friend to many more. He left this world on February 14, 2023, in Sylva, N.C., at age 62.

Art was born September 13, 1960, in Chicago, Illinois to Arthur Charles Sr. and Edith Johnson. He graduated from Marion High School (Illinois) in 1978. So began his life journey, while growing up in the Village on Orion Ave. He loved playing outside, especially at Wagoner’s Baseball Diamond! Working at Belmoral Park with his dad, hanging with his younger siblings. At 19 with his family, he moved to Jacksonville FL., where he fell in love the ocean and where he got his new baby brother David, but Sauk Village was home; so, a 35-year career with the United States Postal Services started shortly thereafter. He joined the Emergency Service, being a person of civil service, he lived in and served the community of Sauk Village for 34 years, retiring as the director of the village’s Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA) in 2016.

He was a gentle soul who loved spending time with his wife Sue at The Lounge- bowling, playing softball, or drinking a keg in the shower as his buddies played a joke on him. You always see him with his girls Taylor & Nicole, at breakfast, at the movies, teaching them how to drive. As his grandchildren came into the world, there were contests about who would fall asleep first Art or the new baby in his arms. All of this while listening to Country Music Southern Rock or The Oldies. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr. Johnny Cash, were often heard playing on his car radio, sometimes as he was one of the first on the scene responding to an emergency.

Helping in an emergency began at a young age. Once when his sister Rosemarie cut her foot at the playground at age 6, Art who was only 10 years old, carried his bleeding sister home and patched her foot. Art was always seen helping friends and strangers alike. He always came to rescue with his girls, like when the oldest tripped over a handicap ramp spraining and tearing a ligament, or when his youngest tried to test the temperature of a microwave plate with her hand that was just used. There were so many stories where Art was the main man.

Art is survived by his wife of 36 years Sue Johnson (Pappas); his daughter, Nicole; his grandchildren Gillian, Jakob, Charlz, JJ, Rafie, Wyllow, Kymberly, Cecilia, Jordyn, Madilyn & Severus, his mother, Edith Johnson; his sisters Rosemarie Donnelly, Christina Ellenburg (Benjamin), Catherine Stroud, and brother David Johnson.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Taylor Heinssen, his father Arthur Johnson Sr., a niece Samantha Pappas, his brother-in-law’s David Donnelly, George Pappas, Michael Stilp, John R Stroud, Edward Allen and sister-in-law Jackie Rhein.

Visitation Friday, March 3, 2023 from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Smits Funeral Home, 2121 Pleasant Springs Lane (Rt.30/Pleasant Springs Ln.), Dyer, IN. Funeral Saturday, March 4, 2023 10:00 a.m. at Smits Funeral Home, 2121 Pleasant Springs Lane (Rt.30/Pleasant Springs Ln.), Dyer, IN. Then a procession through the Village to the interment at Calvary Cemetery - Steger, IL. Arrangements entrusted to Steger Memorial Chapel. For further information, please call 708 755-6100 or visit our online obituary and guestbook at www.smitsfh.com .