Lobster boat Capt. Jeffrey Walter Johnson of Truro died at home on Jan. 19, 2024 from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 67.
The son of Walter and Rhoda Johnson, Jeff was born on June 8, 1956 in Brockton. His father, an accountant, moved the family to Bridgewater, where Jeff grew up in a close-knit neighborhood. His father died when Jeff was nine, and the local dads rallied around him to buffer his loss, said Jo Johnson, Jeff’s former wife.
The family vacationed each summer in Truro, and after his father’s death, Jeff spent more time with his aunt, Anne Ordal, and his cousin Peter at their summer home here. He and his friends spent their days at Ballston Beach and worked at night in Provincetown restaurants. He learned to surf and worked his way up from dishwasher to busboy to waiter at the Red Inn.
His job with the Truro Beach Office, however, lasted only two days. “He did the orientation and got his badge to supervise parking, but when he went home to West Bridgewater on his motorcycle for the weekend, he crashed and was laid up for eight weeks,” said Jo.
After graduating from West Bridgewater High School in 1974, Jeff studied business at Roanoke College in Virginia. “Jeff was good with numbers,” Jo said, “but he loved being outdoors. He loved the mountains around the college more than the classes.” In the winter of 1980, he returned to Truro without graduating.
In March of that year, he asked Jo Francis to dance at the Crown & Anchor. They got involved with the Pamet Melons softball team, Jeff as a player and Jo as a scorekeeper in what was known as the Spaghetti League. Jeff married Jo in 1983, and they continued with the softball team until their two daughters were born.
Jeff had learned lobstering from Jo’s father, Edgar Francis, on the Pinkie, becoming first mate. After his marriage, he worked in a variety of Edgar’s businesses as needed: as a driver bringing the mail to and from Buzzards Bay and Hyannis, as a bus driver for Outer Cape and Brewster schools, as a dune taxi driver, and, after the children were born, as a maintenance man for the North Truro Camping Area.
But it was on his father-in-law’s lobster boat, the F/V Annie L, that he found his calling. He was fearless. When Hurricane Bob hit in 1991, he and Edgar chose to ride out the storm at sea instead of tying the boat down in the harbor.
Jeff took over as captain when his father-in-law fell ill in 1993, and he ran the lobster boat and business until he retired in 2019. Even in retirement, he could not stay off the water. He continued to work a couple of days a week as first mate with the Dolphin Fleet.
When his daughters were in the fifth and sixth grades, the Truro Central School performed a series of musical vignettes that required theatrical sets. “Jeff built the sets,” said Jo, “in the high-ceilinged bus garages, but they were too big to be brought through the doors of the school.” He had to modify them so they could be folded down.
He served as a member of the recreation commission and as a T-ball coach. “Jeff also loved his chocolate and a good steak,” Jo said.
Jeff is survived by his daughters, Annie Johnson of Truro and Jaclyn and husband Ian Anderson of New Hampshire and their children, Adeline and Miles, and by his former wife, Jo Francis Johnson.
He was predeceased by his brother, Timothy “TJ” Johnson.
A celebration of Jeff’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on June 8 at the Dunes Crest function room, 535 Route 6, North Truro.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, P.O. Box 538, Provincetown 02657.
