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“To the work! To the work! We are servants of God, let us follow the path that our Master has trod…”
The music of an early 1870s hymn “To the Work!” was a constant in Dr. Will Johnson’s mind. So much so, his son, Dr. Carey Johnson (g’73), said he regularly heard his father hum the melody.
It’s the perfect illustration of a Tabor College pioneer, knowing the second he arrived on campus, he was answering God’s call for the work put before him.
Seventy-five years later, the imprint of his work has not been forgotten.
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Johnson and his family moved twice before settling in Shafter, Calif. when he was 7 years old. The family farmed in the Central Valley but labored as they lived in at least eight locations over the next 20 years. While difficult, his childhood of living on the farm brought a foundation of a strong work ethic, curiosity, and interest in agriculture.
Those influences took him to Bakersfield Junior College for two years, leading to his degree in dairy science at the University of California Davis in 1937.
While working as a record keeper on a large dairy farm, Johnson went to hear Tabor President A.E. Janzen (1935-42) speak in Shafter. The fire was ignited to see what this Kansas college was about. Johnson chose to attend Tabor, studying bible courses and preparing to teach during the 1939-40 academic year.
After returning to California, Johnson received a phone call from Zoar Academy in Inman, Kan., in December 1942. He spent 18 months at the academy and then later taught at Inman High School. He met and later married his wife, Georgina Kornelsen, an Inman resident and longtime Tabor librarian (1961-92).
It was only the beginning of his stay in Kansas.
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Johnson was pursuing graduate studies at Kansas State University in 1947 when he received word from Tabor President P.E. Schellenberg (1942-51) about his aspirations for chemistry. It would be a brand-new program and the fourth Tabor president wanted Johnson to take the lead.
Carey reiterated how big of a step this was for his father, but from his time spent hearing about Tabor in Shafter to his one year of classes, a calling was put in Johnson’s heart. After taking the job, that call was quickly confirmed.
“It was the opportunity to teach at Tabor College,” Carey said of what sold his father. “It wasn’t just to teach at a Christian college. He never thought about moving on to somewhere else. He was incredibly loyal to Tabor.”
Original source can be found here.
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