GALVESTON, Texas — A Galveston City councilman died Wednesday after a brief hospitalization.
District 1 Councilman Rev. E.R. Johnson, 56, was hospitalized earlier this month and the city said he passed away early Wednesday morning. It's unclear what led to his death.
Johnson was elected in November and had been a longtime community leader as the pastor of Avenue L Missionary Baptist Church and owner of E.R. Johnson Family Mortuary in Galveston.
"On behalf of the City of Galveston and City Council, I would like to extend our sympathies and condolences to Reverend Johnson’s family upon his passing today. Reverend Johnson represented the desire to see our community progress and always fostered the idea that we are a Brotherhood where all citizens have a voice. He epitomized the thought that we have not arrived until all of us have arrived. He will be missed and the best way to honor him is to continue the spirit that he brought to everything he did,” Mayor Craig Brown said in a release sent out by the city.
Johnson will be remembered as a stalwart who lived to serve his community and his faith.
"Rev. Johnson was a fine man who served the Lord and his community with love and respect. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him," City Manager Brian Maxwell said.
According to the city, "Rev. Johnson served in a variety of areas in the community as the Board Secretary of the Baptist Minister Association of Galveston, chaplain of the Independent Funeral Directors Association of Texas, vice president of the Fellowship United District Association-Congress of Christian Workers, Assistant Dean of the Lincoln District Association and second vice president of the Galveston Unit of the NAACP. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist General Convention of Texas and National Baptist Convention of America USA Inc."
