Lynne Mowbray

One of Maclean’s local identities Johnno Johnson was farewelled recently after passing away on 16 October, at the age of 86.

John Patrick Johnson – ‘Johnno’, was a true Aussie battler.

In her eulogy, daughter Janice Battersby said that her father came from a family of 12 children, and life was pretty tough for him growing up.

“As a youngster of 10, he lived with his grandmother at Woodford Leigh, where he was her carer and was responsible for administering her diabetic injections daily,” Janice said.

“At 15 he went to live in Sydney for 12 months with his aunty where he worked very long hours, sending his pay cheque home to help with the running of the family farm.

“These experiences made him very resilient and the caring man we all new.

“He cared deeply for his siblings especially the younger ones, to whom he was a father figure,” she said.

In an interview with the Independent 10 years ago, Johnno said that (during his younger years) he had worked at the Harwood Sugar Mill for 10 years, and during that time he took on extra jobs to try and get ahead.

He left the mill to go and sell cars for Gordon Woods in Grafton.

Johnno set up Gordon Woods in Maclean in 1966, with the assistance of his wife Fay, who looked after the business, while he worked in Grafton.

As the business was in his front yard (in Maclean), he worked seven days a week for four years until he took over as Caltex’s bulk fuel supplier in the Lower Clarence area.

The depot was originally behind the Caltex Service Station in Maclean (where the current BP Service Station is today), before moving out to Townsend.

In 1971 he opened the Johnsons Caltex Service Station and Caravan Park, in River Street Maclean. Two years later he took on the Yamaha motorcycle franchise which proved to be a top business decision, taking out the ‘most sales for a dealership’ two years in a row and scoring him a total of four overseas trips to Hong Kong and Japan.

“I sold seven motorbikes one Saturday morning to local boys, all Yamaha DT 175s,” he said.

After being offered an unreal price, Johnno sold the Service Station and Motorcycle Franchise and Caravan Park, leaving him with the Caltex depot.

A few years later Johnno sold the depot and retired.

He eventually bought a parcel of land in Stanley and River Streets, from Maclean local Don Day and set about selling part of the land and leasing the buildings. When one of the premises became available, he decided to follow his passion of selling cars, and so the beginning of Johnno’s Quality Used Cars was born.

Janice said that her father had the business for about five years from 1992, before selling it due to ill health in 1997.

In 2000 Janice and her husband Pat bought the business back and altering the name slightly to Johnno’s Quality Cars, finally closing the doors of the business on 29 November 2014.

Janice told the Independent that Johnno was extremely community minded and listed just some of the things he was passionate about:

• He spent 2 terms as a Maclean Shire Council Councillor from 1977-1983
• Patron to many sporting clubs and community fundraising committees.
• Patron of the Maclean Bowling Club, Maclean Bobcat Soccer Club, Lower Clarence Magpies Rugby League Club,
• Was on many community Fundraising Committees: – Nicolson-Black appeal in 1977.
• Served on the Lower Clarence Olympic Pool Appeal Committee raising the money to convert the pool from 30 meter to 50-metre pool.
• Active member of Apex and Lions Clubs for many years in the lower river.

Johnno Johnson left a true legacy within the community, and he will be fondly remembered.