A tour of duty in Afghanistan and a tornado that destroyed family homes in Greensburg could not stop graduation day from coming for Matt Johnson.
Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Emporia State University on Saturday.
He returned safely from Afghanistan, where he’d served with the 82nd Airborne, and resumed college studies.
“Matt was in Afghanistan so he was like a year behind in school,” said his mother Kathy Johnson. “So he did this in 3 years.”
Earlier this month, Kathy and her husband Dave, were in the middle of a home-remodeling project and thinking ahead to the celebration they’d have in honor of their son’s graduation. Then, they received word that a tornado had decimated the city of Greensburg, where several of Kathy Johnson’s siblings, nephews and a niece live.
The Johnsons, including Matt, rushed to Greensburg the following morning, carrying with them several pickup and van loads of supplies for the victims, in addition to financial donations from generous friends.
For a time, the Johnsons forgot about the graduation party. Kathy Johnson’s sister-in-law, Roberta, had planned to pick up an assortment of supplies from The Bulk Store in Greensburg to bring them to Emporia for the celebration.
“I’d forgot about that until after we’d got there,” Johnson said. She bumped into the store owner in Greensburg, and the woman apologized for not being able to furnish the merchandise.
The Bulk Store was one of many buildings destroyed by the tornado.
Johnson figured that she could pick up what she needed on Friday, when she was back in Emporia. Her Greensburg family, of course, would not be able to come to Matt’s party, but others would and she knew she needed to be ready to go full speed ahead once they got home.
The Johnsons weren’t aware that friends and family already were planning ahead on their behalf.
“When I walked in the house, I wanted to cry because I just could not believe this,” Johnson said.
Denise Page, Janna Stegmaier and Joyce Reynolds got to work on vegetable trays; Charlotte Pinick ordered all of the paper supplies.
“She’d gotten the black and gold paper plates and forks, and all of that stuff,” Johnson said.
Donna Spain bought signs that read, “Congratulations!” and “Happy Graduation!”
Mike and Tammy Black smoked the pork shoulders Johnson had purchased, and daughter Kristen Johnson got a cake and balloons ordered.
“She goes, ‘Don’t worry, Mom, I can handle everything,’” Johnson said. “She just really took charge.”
Donna Spain and Martina Krueger came in to help Kristen clear away as much evidence of remodeling as possible.
“Dave had been sanding plaster all day Friday,” Johnson said. “It was really a mess here. Those guys that cleaned the house really had to tackle the worst.”
By the time Matt Johnson got off work at Sears and headed to his parents’ house, another friend, Alan Spain had mowed their lawn.
Johnson’s sister, Vickie Woodbury, and stepniece, Terri Woodbury, came down from Silver Lake, decorated the house and surroundings, started making salads and sat up the buffet. Cindy Detwiler brought over pasta salad, and the Blacks delivered the smoked pork.
“I think the only thing we ended up getting were the buns,” Johnson said. “Everything else was done.”
Because of the unexpected help, Johnson “slept in” until 7 a.m. Friday morning and was able to enjoy the graduation party on Saturday.
“I just didn’t have to do anything but show up,” she said. “I was so worried and it didn’t matter. I was so surprised; they just took charge of everything.”
vwoodbury (anonymous) says...
Thank you for the nice article about my sister and her family. Our entire family is so proud of Matt and his accomplishments. We, as a family, were proud of him for helping protect our country in Afghanistan, and even more proud of the man he has become. Knowing how many wonderful friends my sister and her family has, is very refreshing. How selfless of them to put aside time in their busy lives to help Kathy and Dave throw Matt the best graduation party ever while they were in Greensburg helping our brother and his family deal with the aftermath of the Greensburg tornado. Thanks to their generousity, it was a great day.
I am speaking on behalf of my family when I say to Kathy and Daves friends who made the day possible, THANK YOU!
The only thing I would ask the Gazzette, is where is a picture of our nephew? I would have loved to see his picture and a picture of the friends who made the day possible. That is a bit dissapointing to me. It was a great article, and I thank you for printing it, but sure would have loved to see Matt in print!
May 16, 2007 at 11:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )