ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Mahlon D. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., age 70, passed away unexpectedly on Feb. 3, 2025 at Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, N.Y.
Born in Iowa, he lived in Lexington, Mass.; Oberlin, Ohio; Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville Tenn.; and Rochester, N.Y. He received his medical degree and Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He had fellowships in Research and Neuropathology, and internship and residency in Pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was board certified in Neuropathology and Anatomic Pathology.
Dr. Johnson served as Director, Neuropathology of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and professor with Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, as well as teaching at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. Dr. Johnson had particular interest and expertise in neurosurgical pathology and neurodegenerative disorders. He studied leptomeningeal diseases, especially meningeal neoplasia. Throughout his 44-year career, he published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and authored numerous book chapters, notably well over 150 publications. His devotion to the profession, neuropathology diagnostic skills and knowledge were unparalleled and widely recognized, having received referrals for consultation from across the U.S. Accolades included teaching and numerous research awards.
A lifelong learner, when not working, he extensively read history and non-fiction, endlessly sharpening his expansive intellect far beyond medicine, and enjoyed weightlifting, gardening and music. So aptly applied to his life is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Mahlon was preceded in death by his beloved mother, Mary Claudice Fraley, and father, David Campbell Johnson.
His survivors include sister Bonnie Claudice Johnson of Knoxville, Tenn., and half-brothers Duncan Campbell Johnson of Fayetteville, Ark. and Ian Benjamin Johnson, Tyler, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to Arbor Day Foundation or the Smithsonian Institution. To leave an online condolence visit: www.visitmiller.com.
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