Memphis real estate icon dies from COVID-19
Lawrence Johnson’s ambition was evident even from an early age.
“He sold everything he could find – everything from nuts to newspapers,” said Deverne Howell, one of his two siblings.
That drive and entrepreneurial spirit eventually led to Johnson establishing himself as one of the top real estate brokers in Memphis during a career that spanned nearly five decades. After opening Lawrence Johnson Realty in 1976 in the Whitehaven community, he rose to prominence as one of the leading African American businessmen in the Midsouth, becoming the first African American member of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, according to his son Spencer.
Johnson continued his work as a Realtor in Whitehaven until contracting COVID-19 last month. Following a weeklong hospital stay at Methodist South, the lifelong Memphian died Monday at his home. He was 80. He is survived by his wife, Magnolia, brother, Harold, sister, Deverne Howell, three children, Spencer, Eric and
Elaine Deverne Johnson-miles, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“Mr. Johnson is really an icon in real estate, especially within the black community,” said former Tennessee Real Estate commissioner Carol Tate, a Memphis-based agent for more than four decades. “He had a love of people and the knowledge to put people in homes. Rebuilding communities, that’s what we call it. I guess my best term for him is just good people.”
At the height of his career, Johnson employed more than 150 agents – second in the Mid-south only to Cryeleike. Despite the market crash in 2007, he maintained a staff of more than 60, including Spencer’s wife, Thelma. Johnson’s professional dedication never waned.
“Matter of fact, he told my wife, who was his assistant, on Sunday that he was going to be back in the office next week,” Spencer said. “He was just driven.”
Driven by three things, according to Johnson-miles.
“He believed in faith, family and finance,” she said of her father, who served 59 years on the deacon board at Middle Baptist Church in Whitehaven. “He believed in God, that was No. 1. He believed in taking care of his family and he believed in helping others with finance. If you needed help, he would help you, whatever the case may be.
That was his motto.”
Johnson-miles remembers one instance that perfectly illustrates her father’s nature.
“If he knew you were hungry, he would feed you. One day, he even opened the door to some strangers,” she said. “We didn’t know who they were, but he told them to get a plate. We just kind of chuckled and they left because they realized they were at the wrong house. (But) he just made everybody feel warm.”
“He had a sense of humor with everyone he met,” said Eric. “He found a way to make anybody laugh, whether they were a stranger or not.”
Johnson, who was also recovering from pneumonia at the time of his death, earned the distinction of becoming a lifetime member of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors’ Multi-million Dollar Sales Club, according to his company’s website.
But Tate said Johnson’s motivation was less about money and more about humanity.
“We just worked a case together, the earlier part of last year,” she said. “He had a customer, a (military) veteran and his wife, that he was trying to put into a home. He called me on one of my listings and we really had to work to get those people into that home. We ran through, it was just a host of problems. It took us three months, but we didn’t give up.
“That’s what real estate is about. It’s not just selling homes. It’s getting people, families into homes. I loved being able to work with him and I will carry that with me.”