FROM THE COMPASS - JULY 22, 2003 Province mourns Captain Morrissey Johnson ‘One of Newfoundland’s last folk heroes’ By STEPHANIE KINSELLA and BARBARA DEAN-SIMMONS Optipress News Captain Morrissey Johnson was laid to rest Friday afternoon in Catalina. The former MP and sealing captain died in a traffic accident Monday night, July 14, near the Lewisporte Junction. Capt. Johnson was a passenger in a car that collided with a moose and went off the road. He was pronounced dead at the hospital in Grand Falls-Windsor. A Catalina native, Capt. Johnson was a well-known figure in the province and had many interests. He was actively involved in the seal hunt from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. During that time, he captained the Lady Johnson - one of the last large vessels involved in the seal hunt. Tina Fagan got to know Capt. Johnson when she became executive director of the Canadian Sealers Association. She remembers him as a knowledgeable and good-hearted person. “I made it my business to get to know him because Morrissey had a wealth of information,” she says. “He was extremely helpful to me and others in the industry.” In fact, when the seal hunt protest was gaining momentum in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Capt. Johnson was selected by Premier Frank Moores to be part of a delegation to Europe to inform the public there about the hunt and its importance to the province’s economy. Mr. Johnson stepped into the political arena in 1984 when he was elected MP for Bonavista-Trinity-Conception with the Progressive Conservative Party. Former Fisheries minister John Crosbie served with Capt. Johnson in Ottawa. Mr. Crosbie says Mr. Johnson’s experience as a sealing captain proved beneficial to him as a politician. “He was a great defender of the seal hunt and Newfoundland traditions... He was very helpful when we had to take a strong stand with reference to issues and Newfoundland,” Mr. Crosbie says. “He did a fine job for this province when he was member of Parliament.” Mr. Crosbie recalls Capt. Johnson as being highly respected by both his colleagues and constituents. “He was frank and open in discussion, had firm opinions which he didn’t hesitate to let you know...He was a very engaging person, friendly and open.” Mr. Johnson lost his seat in the 1988 election to Liberal Fred Mifflin. Following that he was appointed chairman of the Fish Prices Review Board in St. John’s. He returned to his first love, the sea, several years ago, operating a tour boat out of St. John’s. “The sea was always part of his life and always in his blood,” recalls Bonavista South MHA Roger Fitzgerald, who knew Capt. Johnson well, both as a political colleague and a friend. “Morrissey was a fellow who loved this province, loved its people and I know as a politician most of the decisions he made came not only with a great knowledge of our economics, but it came from the heart as well. “He was a very compassionate individual, and perhaps one of the last folk heroes of this province,” said Mr. Fitzgerald. Capt. Johnson is also remembered as a somewhat shy and reserved man, added Mr. Fitzgerald. “He was not the flamboyant type of politician who did everything for political reasons. In fact, I think he did things for the right reasons, not for political reasons. I thought he was a great representative...who did a great lot for the people of Bonavista-Trinity-Conception and Newfoundlanders in general.” Capt. Johnson is survived by his wife Betty and 12 children, 10 of whom are from a previous marriage. Funeral services for Mr. Johnson were held at St. John’s and Catalina last Friday. Mr. Johnson was laid to rest at the United Church cemetery in Catalina. Tina Fagan is sure many will miss him. “He’s going to be a big loss,” she says. “He was a fine individual and a good person.”