Chargers employees are deciding whether or not to move up the California coast to Los Angeles with the team later this year and one longtime member of the front office won’t be making the trip.
Director of public relations Bill Johnston has worked for the team for most of the last four decades, but family is trumping career when it comes to a decision about following the team. Johnston’s wife Ramona was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 1999 and lives in Edgemoor Hospital. The neurodegenerative disorder has taken away her ability to speak along with other basic motor functions, although that’s had no impact on Johnston’s daily visits to share news of their children and the rest of the world.
In a touching piece written by Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Johnston explained that he looked into moving his wife to another facility before concluding that it was better for her to stay put. So he’s staying put as well.
“Everybody would make the same decision I am making if they were in my shoes,” Johnston said. “It’s just the situation I find myself in.”
Chargers owner Dean Spanos noted both how much the Chargers will miss Johnston and the magnitude of his devotion in an email to Gehlken.
“How do you lose someone like Bill Johnston?” Spanos said. “He has been a trusted and integral part of this team for 38 years. His personal impact, not only on our organization but also on our lives, is simply without question. Bill’s tireless work to support his wife Ramona and others afflicted with Huntington’s has educated all of us to the ravages of this horrible disease. To know what he has gone through each day to do his job, raise his family and still be there for his wife -- to me, it speaks volumes of his love and commitment to her. There’s no question Bill’s departure will leave a hole, but he has Susie’s and my deepest respect and admiration for his decision to stay and do what is best for his family.”
We wish Johnston and his entire family well in whatever comes next in their journey through life together.
[Photo via Chargers website]