Malcom "Mac" Joel Johnson
On the morning of January 5th, 2021, following a brief bout with septic pneumonia, Malcolm “Mac” Joel Johnson of Spartansburg. Pa., slipped quietly from this earth in the ICU of St. Vincent Hospital, his two loving daughters at his bedside. In a demonstration of the circle of life, St. Vincent is the same hospital at which he was born on October 19, 1943 to the late Margaret Ann Welch Johnson and Carlton Joel Johnson.
Malcolm grew up in the Columbus, Ohio suburb of Upper Arlington, where he attended Catholic Schools through the 9th grade. He briefly entertained thoughts of becoming a priest, but concluded it was not for him because he “liked girls too much.” After transferring to Upper Arlington High School, where he would graduate in 1961, he met the love of his life, Lynette Marie Brissey . Sharing the same birth date of October 19th, they decided to share the same anniversary date too, and were married on April 10, 1965.
They spent the first 12 years of their married life in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, where Mac was an equipment installer for the Bell Telephone Company. Happy memories of many summers spent with his grandparents in Spartansburg, Pa., propelled Mac and Lynette to move their young family there in 1977. It pleased him to know that his grandchildren are at least the 7th generation of his family to live there.
Mac took a job as a saw operator at McInnes Steel in Corry, and plunged into the country life with gusto, raising game chickens and rabbits, enjoying annual deer hunts and fishing trips to Canada with friends and hauling wood to heat the big house on Washington St. he now owned and had long admired as a child. It was just natural to his character to help out in his community by becoming an active member of the Spartansburg Volunteer Fire Department, serving as an EMT in the Spartansburg Ambulance Service and sitting on the Spartansburg Borough Council for a number of years.
He became a brother of the Spartan Lodge 372 of Free and Accepted Masons on New Year’s Day of 1979 and remained a member in good standing of the Titusville Lodge 754 at the time of his death. He was buried with his apron, scroll and sprig of evergreen, and as he would have desired, the family intends for Masonic funeral rites to be part of his memorial services.
In the early 90’s he followed a whim of his wife’s (as he so often did ), and moved with her to a new home on Britton Run in Sparta Township, where he enjoyed the constant work of remodeling, puttering in his giant garage, and mowing the acres around his pond and wooded property. Many years of wonderful family memories were created there for his beloved grandchildren, Rachel Louise Cox and Leah Irene Cox of Pittsburgh, Logan Joel Saborsky of St. John’s, Arizona, and Lucas John Saborsky of Spartansburg.
He is also survived by his daughters; Amanda Jane (Steven) Cox and Margaret Joel Saborsky, both of Spartansburg, and his sister Linda Marie McGowan, also of Spartansburg. He was immensely proud of the people his children and grandchildren had become, and would often tell them so, considering his family to be his greatest accomplishment. His humility and gratitude for the blessings life had given him was pure and honest, and always expressed with an endearing sense of wonder.
Mac once described himself as an average guy. Average weight, height, job, income and house. A wife, two kids and a dog. All true. But the bedrock truth under that was this. He was always exactly what his family needed him to be. Responsible. Dependable. A safe place in a storm. Quiet but always listening, loving unconditionally while encouraging excellence. Gentle, kind and wise. Teaching values through his daily example of hard work without complaint, and being the one who could always be counted on to do the right thing by his family, friends and community.
Mac was there for every event important to his children, grandchildren, family, friends or
community. Every game or concert, every play or pageant , every baptism, first communion or confirmation, every graduation, every wedding, every calling hours or funeral. Every family reunion or party. Every card game or fishing trip. Every Fire Department dinner or community fundraiser, every Spartansburg Fair. He took every opportunity he was given to support his community or honor a human being he cared about. He kept every promise made and every vow given. Malcolm was an average man who created an exceptional life through his expressions of love for others.
Mac had a quick wit and a wry sense of humor. He enjoyed being social, and was always up for a party or a drink with a friend. He loved R&B and soul and could sing and dance it with the best of them. He took pride in his appearance and always dressed to the occasion. He wrote beautifully and read extensively, with a sharp interest in current events and the world around him. He loved old cars, animals, and turquoise jewelry. He had a strong sense of fair play, and despised bigotry and brutality in all forms. No better description of him could be found than the words of Michah 6:8. ‘...for what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
In the years following his retirement from McInnes Steel, Mac and Lynette returned to the Borough of Spartansburg to make their final home even closer to their daughters, where after an extended illness Lynette would precede him in death on March 8, 2019.
Private burial services for the immediate family were handled by Askins Cremation Funeral Services. Both a graveside funeral service and informal celebratory wake will be announced by the family later this summer.
Mac would have been pleased for friends and family members to consider making a donation in his name to the Spartansburg Volunteer Fire Dept. or a veteran, animal or children’s charity of their choice.