Taylor Jimmie Johnston

Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. Born May 11, 1940 in Newbern,

Tennessee, he was the youngest of Ganes and Dollie (Hood) Johnston’s

ten children.

Taylor was a noted scientist, an administrator, a celebrated teacher,

and a passionate musician. He was a professor in the College of

Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University for 51

years, and he also served as CANR associate dean and director for 13

years. An innovative educator, he taught over 15,000 students at MSU

and received numerous teaching awards. His research as a crop

physiologist has had a lasting impact on the corn and soybean

industries. During the last few decades of his career, he did

extensive outreach and administrative work in India, Europe, and

especially China.

Taylor’s life was filled with music. He sang in gospel groups as a

child and performed choral and operatic works throughout his life. But

it was his profound love of Baroque music during the second half of

his life—as a singer, as a recorder player, as an organizer, and as an

occasional instrument builder—that friends and family know best. The

Taylor Johnston Early Music Series at the MSU College of Music is a

rich testament to his passion for this body of music.

He was a fixture at Spartan Stadium and the Breslin Center, holding

season MSU football and basketball tickets for some fifty years. And

he was also a familiar face at area golf courses, where his love of

sports, his love of the outdoors, and his love of puzzles and problem

solving came together.

From the late 1950s into the 1960s, Taylor served in the Army National

Guard. He is survived by two sons, Bryan and Blair Johnston; two

sisters, Angel Cole and Virgie Parrish; and many extended family

members.

The family has arranged to hold a memorial service/ celebration for Taylor Johnston on Friday, October 4, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. at The Peoples Church 200 W Grand River Ave, East Lansing, MI 48823.