C. Bosworth “Bos” Johnson passed away Sunday, November 23. To some of you, this name may not mean anything, but for those who knew him, or who have ever had the pleasure of meeting him, know how great a loss his passing is to our community.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bos and his wife Dotty Johnson, during an assignment in Professor Jennifer Sias’ class. Amy McCallister-Ethel and I were assigned to interview Dotty for our very first interview.

We met for lunch prior to the interview at the Woodlands Retirement Community where he and his wife lived. They had paid for lunch and wound not allow us to repay them.

I think Bos knew we would be nervous because it was our first interview, so we chatted all through lunch getting to know one another.

As the minutes ticked by, I began to see the charisma in Bos that made him the brilliant and successful newscaster, teacher, public relations manager, husband and father he was.

They welcomed us into their home for the interview, and we spent hours chatting following the interview. Yet, it still was not enough time. I could have stayed longer just to learn from these two knowledgeable people.

He and his wife experienced so much and were happy to share their knowledge with us. The stories we heard and the impeccable knowledge he shared was worth more than anything a future journalist could have ever dreamed of.

That was Bos from my experience, as well as what I’ve heard others say. It was the way he lived life. He was a kind-hearted gentle man who loved journalism, and loved talking about it.

To have the honor to learn from such an accomplished individual that day, for me, will impact the rest of my life. It was like taking a master class from someone who accomplished what I can only dream about.

The Marshall students who had him as a professor were fortunate to learn from someone with his experience. His career spanned 53 years, when he finally decided to retire in 2005.

However, he did not stop writing. He wrote a newsletter for the Woodlands Community and stayed active in the community through several boards.

Looking back, he spent 28 years in broadcast; 24 of which were spent at WSAZ-TV, where his son Rob Johnson is anchor now. Bos served as news director and anchor for 16 years.

He was the one who, with a broken heart and crushed by sadness, had to tell the community about the 75 members of Marshall’s football team, staff and fans that perished in a plane crash.

While an associate professor in broadcast journalism at the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall, he also worked as a senior consultant for Charles Ryan Associates doing media workshops across the nation.

He left Marshall in 1988, when he became vice president of Charles Ryan, but moved to part-time in the early 1990s, before he finally retired.

Bos, your family, friends and acquaintances will miss you dearly, but you will forever live in our hearts.

Jessica Ross can be contacted at [email protected].