LAST weekend, relatives and friends of Capt. Ed Johnson paid their last respects before his remains were buried at sea off the Marina Cove coast. For most of them it was not an easy occasion to say goodbye to someone dear to their hearts. Ed was not only a phantom of delight to his friends and family. But he was also a great loss to the sporting community.
It was not easy for me either to bid farewell to Ed. My many years of association with him on and off the tennis court were festooned with friendship, countless hours of unselfish service to the sporting community, a lot of friendly and competitive games, exciting stories of his sporting life, and my admiration of his being a respectable all around athlete. I will surely miss them all.
I recall that Ed would never put his friendship on the line no matter how unpleasant the discussion was. Discussions sometimes bring out the best and worst in you. And when the latter surfaces, friendship is compromised. Ed was not in this mode. At the end of the day, you were still friends.
His desire to help and share what he knows was always Ed’s trademark. We worked several times on a community project together. And in every opportunity we happened to be sitting on the same table, Ed was always ready to share everything he could.
Ed loved to tell stories of his tennis exploits. Two of his stories I liked most were his stint in the Caribbean where he taught Mats Wilander, former U.S. Open and French Open champion, how to serve, and at the Nick Bolleteri Tennis Academy where he served as assistant to Bolleteri himself.
I don’t remember how many games we played at the park. But every game was full of fun and competition. Ed was the person who always gave everything he could muster to win a match. And he would curse himself if what he did not deliver. I am a living witness to his draconian coaching style with his siblings that was misconstrued to be abusive. Knowing Ed, he only wanted them to do their best.
On that sunny weekend, Ed, who embraced multi-sports more than anybody on island and competitions, including the Saipan Tagaman and Honolulu Iron Man, was laid to the deep waters of the Philippine Sea.
Goodbye Ed. Thanks for the friendship. Thanks for everything!
