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LOCAL HISTORY. Located at San Mateo Harbor District’s Pillar Point Harbor.
Sigval Bernhardt Johnson was born on June 15, 1886 in Whitehall, Michigan. He was the first born child of Bernt Sakarias Johnson and Petrine Gesine (Gabrielsen-Thompson).
The Johnson family moved to South Manitou Island in approximately 1888 where Sigval lived until he enlisted in the Life-Saving Service. The Coast Guard records show he enlisted in 1904 at the age of eighteen. In 1908, Sigval married Dora Allie Rogers in Frankfort, MI. The Johnsons had three sons – Roger, Howard, and Bernard.
Besides Frankfort, Sigval’s duty assignments took him to Grand Haven, Pentwater, Michigan City, Indiana, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. His specialty was in life-saving stations. He joined as a surfman and worked his way up through the ranks.
During World War I, Chief Warrant Officer Johnson, commanded a tugboat in New York Harbor, where one job was towing ammunition barges to ships to be loaded for overseas transit.
After World War I, CWO Johnson was transferred back to the Great Lakes, having charge of the life boat station and patrol boats enforcing the Volstead Act. This Act was known as the Prohibition Enforcement Act to stop smuggling of liquor into the United States from Canada.
In 1937, Admiral Johnson was transferred to San Francisco, California, and placed in charge of all Coast Guard actions along the coast from the Oregon border to Point Arguello, California.
During World War II, Admiral Johnson was operations officer of the Twelfth Coast Guard District. He was responsible for setting up beach patrols and lookouts and planning defensive measures along the entire central and northern California coast.
Rear Admiral Johnson retired from active service in 1946. He promptly became active in forming the County Board of Harbor Commissioners, San Mateo County Harbor District. He was known as “Mr. Harbor Commissioner.” He also served three terms on the Coastside Elementary School District board of trustees, in Moss Beach, California.
Rear Admiral Johnson died on January 25, 1968 at the age of 81. At the time of his death Admiral Johnson and his wife, Dora Allie, had been married 59 years. Admiral Johnson was buried in Frankfort; MI.
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Harold & Linda Saffron [email protected] July 18, 2005, 6:32 pm
Cemetery: Crystal Lake Township Cemetery – North
Name: Sigval B. Johnson
Princeton by the Sea Memories
Created by June Morrall
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