Weldon "Brett" Johnson

Weldon “Brett” Johnson (March 6, 1964-Sept. 20, 2024)

His byline was Weldon B. Johnson. But to friends and family, he was Brett, a quiet man with a big laugh so contagious it lit up a room and a natural gift for storytelling who found the perfect outlet for that gift in journalism and his work with Arizona Storytellers.

He loved Michigan football, Ford Mustangs and music. Two of his great loves were family and barbecue. “And if he was able to barbecue for family,” Joy Carter, his wife of 16 years, recalls, “that was a huge bonus.” His hobbies included tennis, cycling, grilling and photography. He owned four grills.

Weldon passed away on Sept. 20, 2024, in Chandler, Arizona after a brave battle with cancer. Two days earlier, he filed his final story at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions, where he’d been working since 2022 as a Communications Specialist while also teaching journalism. 

He was born in 1964 in Inkster, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where he learned the value of a family barbecue as the youngest of six siblings. 

In 1982, he graduated from Hamilton J. Robichaud High School in Dearborn Heights, where he wrote for the student paper and lettered in three sports. After earning a communications degree from the University of Michigan, he got his first newspaper job at the Ann Arbor News. He also did an internship at the Cincinnati Enquirer and worked at the Iowa City Press-Citizen and the Flint Journal before taking a job at the Arizona Republic in 2000. 

For 22 years, he worked at The Republic, applying his storytelling talents to sports, community coverage, weather, traffic, history, arts and entertainment. He became an entertainment editor in 2020. Weldon was an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists and served on the Diversity Committee at the paper. He was also involved in the University of Michigan Alumni Association. 

He married Joy Carter in March 2008. 

Weldon was preceded in death by his mother, Flossie M. Johnson; his father, Wallace O. Johnson Sr.; his father-in-law, Floyd “Dan” Carter and his nephew Keifor D. Johnson.

He’s survived by his wife Joy Carter; his siblings, Cheryl A. Tooson (Rahim), Wallace O. Johnson Jr., Paula K. Johnson (Richard), Cynthia Johnson-Williams (James), Kenneth M. Johnson (Nadine); his mother-in-law, Cathy Carter; his brother-in-law, Jason (Leslie) Carter; his nieces and nephews, Damon Tooson, Mykel (DeWayne) Boyd, Davonshylene (Robert) Reid, Kenneth M. (Shawntay) Johnson II, Kannard W. (Emon) Johnson, and Coltrane Carter.

A memorial will be held from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, at Legacy Funeral Home, 1374 N. Arizona Ave. Chandler (480-207-2282). Live stream at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83013429440.

If you’d like to make a donation in his memory, the family suggests you consider your local NPR station or AZ Luminaria at https://azluminaria.org.