Longtime Chicago Newsman Dick Johnson Dies At 66

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago has lost a great newsman, and we at CBS 2 have lost a friend and a great competitor.

Dick Johnson, a reporter and anchor at NBC 5 for nearly two decades and at ABC 7 for two decades before that, has died at the age of 66.

Johnson arrived at ABC 7 in 1982, back when Fahey Flynn was still among that station's main anchors. He moved to NBC 5 in 2002, where he had been a reporter and weekend news anchor most recently.

Johnson had won about every award of note, but he was most noted as a gracious competitor and rock-solid writer. He was funny, with a booming baritone and a light-up-the-room laugh, as CBS 2's Brad Edwards pointed out on Twitter.

CBS 2's Jim Williams also mourned Johnson on Twitter. Williams noted that Johnson had sent him a gracious note just last week upon hearing about CBS 2's coverage of the unrest in Chicago on Saturday, May 30:

"I'm heartbroken. Dick was an outstanding reporter and anchor and a wonderful guy to be with on a story. Just last week he sent me a warm and gracious note. Said he hoped to be back at work soon. I'm so sorry that didn't happen."

CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov tweeted: "It was an honor and a privilege to have known and worked in the field with him. So very sad. But what a wonderful man."

CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey remembered first meeting Johnson when she was 14.

"His passion for community theater made my magical summers with the Community House Players possible," Hickey tweeted. "More than a decade later, we reconnected as fellow reporters. He was the quintessential newsman. Kind and so smart."

CBS 2's Tim McNicholas tweeted: "RIP Dick. Thank you for working tirelessly to uncover the truth for Chicago. We are better off because of it."

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also eulogized Johnson.

"Dick was always a true gentlemen and professional," the mayor wrote on Twitter. "His passion for journalism and the craft of a great story was unmatched. Our deepest condolences to Dick's family and many colleagues."

Johnson's colleague Carol Marin, a onetime CBS 2 anchor, tweeted: "NBC5's Dick Johnson was the best kind of newsman. Smart, thorough, nimble when deadlines were crashing around him. No cliches. Just facts, fairness, and great writing. And he was funny! What a loss to all who knew him. But especially to his loving family."

Former CBS 2 and Fox 32 anchor Robin Robinson remembered Johnson as "a gentleman journalist who got the story without crossing the line of integrity. Would help you though you were the 'competition'. Took his work seriously, not his stature."

A preexisting condition had Johnson isolating in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic. He passed away Tuesday morning of pulmonary fibrosis.

Johnson is survived by a wife and three children, and a lot of good deeds.