In 1957, Johnson founded E.O. Johnson Co. -- now E.O. Johnson Office Technologies -- a distributor of copy machines and other office equipment. He grew the Wausau-based business from a one-man crew to a company now operating in Wausau, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Rochester, Minn., with 180 employees.
He left behind a legacy entrenched in values that will carry on in E.O.'s employees, his friends and daughter, Mary Jo.
"I'm going to deeply miss my dad because not only was he my dad, but he was my boss, my mentor and my friend," said Mary Jo Johnson, who has worked as the company's chief executive officer since 1999. "We had a friendship that was hard to beat."
Johnson got his start in the mid-1950s when he first came across 3M's copy machine while working for the Victor Adding Machine Co. in Milwaukee. Interested in the machine, he returned to his office and called 3M. During the call, he was told he would need $20,000 to get started. Johnson told the Daily Herald in 1999 that he cashed in his insurance policies and liquidated other assets to raise $15,000.
Soon after, Johnson opened E.O. Johnson Co., which served as the area's 3M copier sales and service office in Wausau.
"I was working on a shoestring," Johnson said in a 1999 interview with the Herald. "But anyway, it worked out, and eventually we made enough money so that we could handle it all, and it's been great."
Roger King, president of E.O. Johnson, knew Emery Johnson for 32 years and considered him a father figure. He was returning from Australia when he heard the news that Emery had died after a heart attack.
Emery Johnson had old-school values that a lot of people talk about, but are qualities that only some actually have.
"He's an honest, honorable man," King said. "He expected loyalty, but he also gave it. The things I think he was proudest of in his business career was his E.O. Johnson family and all the employees he affected. He also had a great deal of feelings and admiration for his customer base."
http://www.wausaudailyherald.c...O-Johnson-dies-at-89