ROCHESTER -- Tom Johnson died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Florida, after a short battle with cancer.

He was born Sept. 5, 1951, and grew up in northeast Minneapolis. He spent the 1980s and '90s in Rochester at a variety of jobs, including creating and voicing commercials for Y105 radio.

Tom was politically active in the Reform Party, serving as the national communications director for a short time. He was also the coordinator for the Jade Foundation.

In 2002, Tom and his wife, Mary Potter, relocated to Florida, where he developed a passion for gulf coast fishing. He chronicled his many misadventures for Waterline Magazine in southwest Florida in a weekly column called "The Fumbling Fisherman," winning numerous awards from the Florida Outdoor Writers Association.

He was a gentle soul with a very creative mind and the ability to laugh at himself.

Tom is lovingly survived by his wife, Mary, his mother, Helen Suk, and sister, Jill (Jim) Suk of Rochester; sisters, Dianne Butler and Barbara (Brian) Meeker of Minneapolis; and eight nieces and nephews.

He will be interred in his adopted home of Florida.

A local memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, at People of Hope Church in southwest Rochester.

Memorials are suggested to Seasons Hospice or the Salvation Army.

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