I was shocked, utterly shocked on June 8^th when I got the news that Michael Johnson, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, had died. I had seen him not more than 36 hours earlier with his wife Toya at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Kappa Psi Omega Chapter’s 50^th Anniversary at the Marriott Madison-South.

I took a couple of photos of Michael, one with his wife Toya, and talked with Michael briefly. The proximity was too surreal, especially since Michael had always been a health nut, riding his bike and urging others to take care of themselves physically. It was relayed to me that he had biked on Sunday and then died later. It was so ironic and so tragic. I still can’t believe it.

The first time I did a cover story on Michael — it’s been at least 4-5 cover stories — was March 2011, shortly after he was hired as the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County. The cover photograph is below and I reprint it because I feel that it truly reflects who Michael was — and is. He truly cared for the well-being of children just as I am sure that someone did the same for him as he was growing ujp on the west side of Chicago, a place he was rooted in in more ways than one.

Like a cast of thousands, I tried to support Michael through the years. I took team photos when the annual bike fundraiser was their major fundraiser for the club and published them in the center spread of The Hues. And if Michael needed publicity on any of his initiatives, he knew I would have a sympathetic ear and a story would soon follow. After all, it was the South Madison Neighborhood Center, the predecessor to the Boys & Girls Club, that was a safe haven for my daughter after school when she left Lincoln Elementary. And so you always feel a need to give back, long after your children have left there.