Patrick Hayes “Pete” Johnson, Jr., 76, passed away January 20, 2025, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Visitation is Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 1 to 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Clarksdale. Funeral services are 2 p.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church.
Meredith-Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale is handling the arrangements.
Johnson was born in Alexandria, La., on May 12, 1948, to Patrick Hayes Johnson and Wilma Pearce Johnson. He graduated from Murrah High School in 1966 and attended the University of Mississippi, receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1971. He was also a graduate of the LSU School of Banking of the South and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Jackson School of Law in 1974.
After receiving his law degree, Johnson joined the Bank of Clarksdale as a Senior Vice-President and Trust Officer. In the years to come, he was recognized as one of Mississippi’s top leaders by the Mississippi Economic Council, served as President of the Young Bankers Section of the Mississippi Bankers Association, and jointly formed a successful financial planning firm. In 1984, he was appointed by Governor Bill Allain as Chairman of the Mississippi Marketing Council, a major economic development agency for the state.
Johnson was subsequently elected Mississippi’s State Auditor in 1987 where he led anti-corruption efforts that saved taxpayers millions by consolidating county services while enforcing uniform accounting practices and implementing a simple and uniform bid process that is still used today. In 1992, he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Mississippi’s State Director of the Farmers Home Administration where he coordinated one of the largest Farm and Rural Development programs in the United States at the time.
He was named Federal Co-Chair of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) by President George W. Bush, serving from 2002-2011 under both the Bush and Obama administrations. He was admired for his ability to work in a bipartisan fashion to bring about economic growth and opportunity to the eight states in the region.
Johnson was a dedicated community leader, involved in many civic and economic organizations. He served as President of the Clarksdale-Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Industrial Foundation, Director of the Delta Council’s Community and Industrial Development Board, Trustee of the Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, Board member of Clarksdale Presbyterian Day School, was an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church, and remained active in numerous other boards and organizations.
The recipient of many awards and accolades, the two of which he was most proud were bestowed on him by the Mississippi Chapter of the NAACP. In 1987 he received the Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner Award for his contributions to the improvement of political power for all people. He also received the Dr. Aaron Henry Lifetime Service Award for outstanding statewide leadership.
Pete loved spending time with his family and friends. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, flying airplanes and playing golf. He spent countless hours in his workshop and loved projects with his grandchildren, nephews and friends. The conversations and lessons learned in those special moments will be treasured forever.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Margaret Birdsong Johnson; daughters Mary Margaret Neal (Dave) of Atlanta, GA and Anne Clark Downing (Steve) of Oxford, MS; sisters Corinne Snyder of Madison, MS, Marjorie Kearbey (Garrett) of Chelsea, AL, and Nancy Johnson of Madison, MS; and grandchildren Pete Neal, Matthew Downing, Sam Neal, Margaret Downing and Ellen Clark Downing. He was preceded in death by his parents Pat and BeBe Johnson.
Memorials can be made to Presbyterian Day School / First Presbyterian Church, 944 Catalpa St., Clarksdale, MS, 38614.
