About the Johnson Hairston Family…

Since 1959 members of the Henry Johnson and Ruth Hairston clans have come together to commune, celebrate, praise God, and worship with one another. 60 plus years gathering for picnics, horse shoes, scrabble, pictures, videos, homemade pies and cakes, fish fries, a little trash talk, and huge helpings of love.

These gatherings started as a request from Henry Johnson to bring his family together during a time of joy rather than the sorrowful time of funerals. Family having fun laughing, eating, and praying because they choose to be together on a warm summer day, not brought together by grief. Henry Johnson called it “a funeral without the body.” Go figure.

Henry Johnson wanted the extended families of his brothers Ulysee, Walter, Ernest, Andrew, and his sister Florence to be a part of that annual celebration. The families of Ruth Hairston’s brothers, Albert, Jr, Alexander, Josie, and Harmon, and her sisters, Annie, Frankie, and Sarah were also welcome at the “funeral without the body.”

In 1912, Henry and Ruth married, uniting the Johnson and Hairston families. 10 children were born to their union: Cornelia, Mary, Charles, Frances, Joseph, Gaynel, Doublin, Douglas, Juanita, and Rufus, all of whom have already passed through this world. Evidence of how they lived and loved, worked and played, worshiped and prayed, remains here on
earth, in the hearts and minds of the current generation, to be passed along to future generations.

But who knew in 1959 that Henry Johnson’s simple request would become an annual event for 60 plus years? Henry’s children knew only that they didn’t want to disappoint their father. So every year, Henry’s children brought their children, and then their grandchildren. Every year, they reminded their aunts, uncles, and cousins from their extended
Johnson and Hairston families to gather on a weekend in the summertime, to meet them somewhere in West Virginia, or Virginia, or Delaware, and later Ohio, Illinois, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

The “Funeral Without the Body” became the annual Johnson Hairston Family Reunion.

From 1959 to today, the Johnson Hairston Family Reunion has grown so much that we can no longer gather at a family home. We need hotels, caterers, amusement parks, and picnic grounds. We want an entire weekend together, not just one day. Each year, we have host families who plan the celebration, and welcome us to their home city. We give gifts to
our high school and college graduates, and post graduate degree earners.

The Johnson Hairston family is also looking toward the future! As a family, we created the Johnson Hairston Family Reunion (JHFR) Scholarship to be awarded to a graduating high school senior who has been accepted to an accredited four-year or two-year institution, or a recognized certification course. The scholarship is presented in front of the entire
family during the reunion celebration.

Henry and Ruth Johnson laid the firm foundation. Uniting two families that would stand together for generations. And everyone connected to their union is always welcome in the host city on the weekend of the fourth Sunday in July to reunite and celebrate the love of a family brought together for joy and laughter, for food and for fun.

Most importantly, Henry Johnson gathered his family together to pray.

For 60 plus years we have stayed together because we have prayed together.