Anthony Emanuel Johnson 1930-1989
Anthony Emanuel Johnson was born at No 4 village West Coast Berbice in 1930. He was one of three brothers, all of whom later became Headteachers.
He attended the No 5 Congregation School but was unable to continue into High School until a much later age when his older brother had graduated from Teacher’s College and was able to pay for his tuition.In the same spirit of selflessness, Anthony together with his elder brother paid for their youngest brother to attend high school.
This provided a great lesson for their children to continue likewise with-their own siblings.With his brother’s support,He was determined to make good use of this opportunity and was very successful in his examinations.
In 1952 after completing the senior Cambridge he gained employment at Burma Rice Development Scheme as an account clerk, but his desire to follow in his brother’s footsteps made him leave that profession and joined the teaching fraternity in 1956.
His appointment was at Calcutta village just outside Burma road. I can recall him saying that he took that job even though it paid less than what he was making at the time. He was dedicated to his profession and sought to make improvement of his career in every aspect .
In 1960 he attended Teacher’s College and achieved 1st class honors before returning to teach at the No 5 Government School. In 1964 he was appointed Senior master at Catherine Government School where his career was started.
In 1967 he was promoted to Head Master at Atonement Lutheran School at Ebini Berbice River. He was transferred to Matthews Ridge School in 1971 and back to No 5 Government School in 1973.
He had by this time worked in all of the counties of Guyana. In 1975 he started his final stint by moving to Cumberland School in Canje Berbice. Anthony was very involved in serving the Community.
He was elected Mayor of New Amsterdam in 1980. ‘Teacha Tony’ as he was fondly called by the folks in No. 5 always found time for fellow villagers who usually dropped in at the Mayor’s Office whenever they needed advice or other assistance.
Anthony passed away at the young age of 59 leaving behind a large family of ten children.
He left a great legacy in that eight of the ten are University graduates, together with 15 grandchildren who are also graduates in various fields from Medicine to Engineering and Accountancy.
