2005-06 Judy Johnson Hometown News Winnie

Judy Johnson was elected president of Texas Press Association June 18, 2005, at the 126th Summer Convention in Las Colinas.

Johnson succeeds Wanda Garner Cash to become the first all-woman duo to serve back to back terms in TPA's 126-year history.

Johnson was first named to the TPA Board of Directors in  1996-97 and served as treasurer, second vice president and first vice president before ascending to the presidency. She has served on the TPA Convention Committee and was chairwoman for the Summer Convention this year and the Midwinter Conference last year.

She also is was an officer for Texas Gulf Coast Press Association.

Johnson started her newspaper career at the Kinder (La.) News as a typesetter and layout production artist.

In 1980 she moved to Texas and went to work for the Gulf Coast News in the Winnie area. When the free weekly went out of business, Winnie was without a newspaper for about six months before Johnson and four other women founded The Hometown Press in 1991.

Johnson was named publisher in 1993 and served in that role until 2007. Her husband, Buddy, was sports editor.

The Hometown Press serves Winnie, Stowell, Hamshire, Fannett, High Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, and boasts a weekly circulation of 1,773.

Johnson is a native of Louisiana and a graduate of Sulphur High School. She taught pre-kindergarten at First Methodist Church School in Lake Charles for five years.

In addition to leading TPA, Johnson has held several community leadership roles, including president of the Winnie Area Chamber of Commerce, Chambers County Heart Association and Chambers County Cancer Society and board member of the Texas Rice Festival.

She serves on the chamber’s Board of Directors and on the Chambers County Library Board and has been president of the Friends of the Library.

She is a 2000 graduate of Leadership Southeast Texas and was named businessperson of the year by SCORE. The Hometown Press also has been named outstanding business of the year by the Winnie Area Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson is a member of St. Stephen';s Episcopal Church in Beaumont. She and Buddy have two children, daughter Paige Walker and son-in-law Eddie of Cary, N.C., and Kirk Johnson of Beaumont, and two grandchildren, Sara and Chad Walker of Cary, N.C.