Lee H. Johnson
ended up in Flint because
of unusual circumstances
connected to his father’s
professional baseball career.
Now, nearly 30 years after his
death, Johnson is set to be
enshrined as one of the city’s alltime
great athletes.
Johnson will be inducted into
the Greater Flint Area Sports
Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012. He
died of cancer in 1983 at age 68.
Johnson’s father, Oscar,
was a Wisconsin native and
professional baseball player.
Oscar Johnson was hired by
Buick to play for and manage a
minor league baseball team it
sponsored in Flint in 1923 known
as the Buick Majors.
Lee H. Johnson was born in
Flint and went on to be a multisport
star at Flint Northern.
He followed in his father’s
footsteps and pursued a career
in professional baseball, first
drafted by the Boston Red Sox
out of high school and later
playing and managing in the St.
Louis Cardinals organization.
“Baseball was in my family’s
blood and it just so happened we
ended up in Flint and stayed,”
said Lee J. Johnson, Johnson’s
son who lives in Linden and
teaches at Mott Community
College. “I was born in Union
City, Tenn., because my dad
was a player-manager for a
team in the St. Louis Cardinals
organization at the time, but we
came back.”
The return to Flint started when
the minor leagues disbanded in
1941 because of World War II.
Lee H. Johnson played for and
managed several city league
teams in Flint until 1947. Oscar
Johnson had started Johnson
Brake Service in downtown Flint,
which remained a family owned
business until it closed in 1979.
“I think the reason our family
stayed in Flint was because,
growing up in the north end,
we just really liked the people,”
Lee J. Johnson said. “People
respected my father and our
family greatly, but he was real
quiet about his success. You
never would have known the
things he had accomplished
because he didn’t talk about
them. He just went about his
business.”
Seeing his father get the nod
for the Greater Flint Area Sports
Hall of Fame is a thrill for Lee J.
Johnson and his family.
“Oh boy, it’s such a great
honor it’s hard to put into words,”
he said. “The contributions my
father made and the things he
did, he was a great, great athlete
and was just so humble. To see
him get this kind of recognition is
outstanding.”
