Chuck Johnson, who took a "temporary" job at The Tidings in 1944 and stayed for 40 years as a popular sports columnist and news reporter, died Aug. 14 following a long illness. He was 86.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated Aug. 20, 11 a.m. at St. Therese Church in Alhambra, where Johnson, his wife Lois and their 10 children were parishioners for more than 50 years and helped begin one of the first parish Perpetual Adoration observances in the archdiocese.

Part of The Tidings staff as the newspaper and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles experienced enormous growth in the years following World War II, Charles Garfield Johnson was born July 24, 1919 in San Francisco, and came to Los Angeles with his family. By his own admission he was drawn to the newspaper business relatively early in life. In a June 30, 1995 article (part of a special section on the Tidings' 100th anniversary), Johnson recalled how, as an eighth grader at St. Paul School in Los Angeles, he'd "rush into the vestibule on Fridays at lunchtime to literally devour The Tidings."

Years later, the Loyola High School graduate had his sights set on a Hollywood writing career while finishing his studies as an English major at Loyola University. Then-editor Msgr. Thomas McCarthy, to whom Johnson had written a letter a year earlier lauding the improvements in the newspaper, invited Johnson to visit the offices, showed him around, and suggested, "Why don't you work for us until your Hollywood call comes through?"

Johnson asked him when he should start. "Tomorrow at 9 o'clock" came the reply. "So I went to work for The Tidings in mid-July 1944," Johnson wrote, "and stayed for 40 years."

As the archdiocese grew and added parishes and schools, so did The Tidings become more a part of the Catholic landscape. Circulation grew from 17,000 when Johnson began to more than 130,000 in the late 1950s, with Johnson and several Loyola graduates --- including classmate Al Antczak, whom Johnson recommended be hired --- among the mainstays of the paper.

Johnson was given charge of developing a sports section by Msgr. McCarthy ("I want it big league all the way, no second hand stuff"), and it wasn't long before "Sports Front," Johnson's back page column, became a fixture at the newspaper. A lively mixture of news, good-natured gossip and more than a few no-nonsense opinions, the column addressed and analyzed the exploits of Catholic high schools and colleges as well as local sports teams. The column was widely read by Catholic players and coaches, and featured Johnson's smiling face with an appropriate baseball cap (Notre Dame's, as often as not) perched atop his head.

Because Johnson was present when the Rams arrived from Cleveland in 1946, the Dodgers from Brooklyn in 1958, and the Lakers from Minneapolis in 1960, he chronicled the growth of local professional sports, highlighting the Catholic angle. An unabashed supporter of the hometown teams and an ardent booster of the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, he nonetheless --- like any sports columnist --- could issue an appropriate reprimand when necessary, and in later years he (like many fans) bemoaned the negative impact of big money and business in the world of games, as well as the self-absorbed nature of too many star athletes.

Along the way, he interviewed many of the great names in sports --- from boxers Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano to football coaches Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian. But Johnson was just as proud of the non-sports stories he covered, like the one Msgr. William North (Msgr. McCarthy's successor as editor) assigned him near deadline in the 1950s.

The "top priority" assignment meant covering "the Lennon Larks of St. Mark's (Venice)," four sisters who were about to appear on the Lawrence Welk national TV show. Johnson's story helped the Lennon Sisters earn a solid local following, and soon they became Welk show regulars.

The Johnson family --- including Lois, his wife of 59 years, and their eight sons and two daughters --- was among the most ardent supporters of The Tidings' annual subscription drive in the Catholic schools during the 1950s and into the 1970s.

Johnson also enjoyed the opportunity to cover the 1960 Rome Olympics and meet Pope John XXIII (and 10 years later, with Pope Paul VI). He retired at the end of July 1984, as the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics were getting underway.

Antczak, in a tribute column written July 6, 1984, noted that for 40 years Johnson averaged writing 50 columns a year for a career total of 2,000 columns, approximately 2.6 million words. "Through it all," he wrote, "Chuck maintained a vision of sports as essentially a human achievement with an idealistic and moral perspective."

In his own last column --- appropriately entitled, "Great Party! Thank you for coming," written on his 65th birthday and published July 27, 1984 --- Johnson expressed his thanks for the opportunity to be part of readers' lives through The Tidings, and paid tribute to the many people he'd had the chance to meet.

"One of the rewards of newspaper work," he wrote, "is the interesting people a journalist contacts every day: generous-hearted people, energetic people, dynamic people, imaginative people, motivated people, disciplined people, gracious winners and uncomplaining losers --- champions all."

"God bless," he concluded, "and please don't ever stop reading The Tidings."

In addition to his wife Lois, Johnson is survived by their 10 children (Paul, Tim, Steve, Kevin, Mark, Celeste, Charley, Lizzie, Peter and Bob), 26 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the Pregnancy Help Center of the San Gabriel Valley, 5626 N. Rosemead Blvd., Temple City, CA 91780, or to the Cloistered Carmelite Sisters Convent, 215 E. Alhambra Rd., Alhambra, CA 91801.