H. H. "Skip" Johnson III, chief financial officer of the Provident Bank of Maryland, died Tuesday of brain tumors at the Stella Maris Hospice. He was 42 and lived in Cockeysville.
He had been with the bank since 1984 and was third in command. He was in charge of the bank's investment, legal, accounting and human relations operations, according to Carl Stearn, chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
"He really was something special," Mr. Stearn said yesterday. He described Mr. Johnson as "a personal friend, a fine man, a religious man of great faith and an extremely competent person with a lot of common sense who had a feel for making the right decisions."
Mr. Johnson "was an open, frank person with no big ego that everyone trusted" and "he would try to persuade people instead of imposing his will upon them," Mr. Stearn said.
A statement Mr. Stearn sent to bank employees also described Mr. Johnson as a "loving husband and father, a community leader and an outstanding banker."
A native of Wilmington, Del., Mr. Johnson came to the Baltimore area in 1975 and worked for Arthur Young and Co., Mercantile Bankshares Corp., Accounting and Financial Consultants and Union Trust Bancorp before joining Provident. He was a member of the board of French Bray Inc. He was a director of the United Way of Central Maryland and had chaired its financial division and the division's 1989 fund-raising campaign. At the Greater Baltimore Committee, he was a former president of the Leadership Association and a 1989 graduate of the Leadership Class. He was regional chairman of the Christian Businessmen's Committee and was a deacon and a board member of the Trinity Assembly of God.
Mr. Johnson was a graduate of the University of Delaware where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma honorary society. He was a member of the Hillendale Country Club and the Center Club.
Services were set for 10 a.m. today at the Trinity Assembly of God, 2122 W. Joppa Road, Lutherville.
He is survived by his wife, Rosemary Johnson; four daughters, Michelle, Rachel and Danielle Johnson, all of Cockeysville, and Megan Mahaffy of Lima, N.Y.; his mother, Doris Lee Johnson of Harrington, Del.; two brothers, Robert Johnson of Memphis, Tenn., and Rand Johnson of Laurel, Del.; and a sister, Carole Anderson of Wilmington.
Memorial donations may be made to the New School Fund of the Trinity Assembly of God.