In 1955, Callie and Walter Johnson married and decided to move their children from the projects in Pontiac to the country for a better upbringing.
The family headed to a small, newly developed subdivision off Big Lake Road and their new home on Villa Crest Drive.
According to the family the area, advertised as an all African American neighborhood, was built for families who wanted their children to grow up outside the city. Callie wanted her children to have a better education and a better life.
‘It was rural when we first moved out there. Not like it is now. It was swampy, and people would come out to see me and say ‘How did your mom find this place,?? said daughter Brooksie Newton, 56.
Gregory Johnson, 50, son of Callie and Walter, remembers in the 1970s bussing being a big issue for the inner city schools. He said the state was going to send urban children to the suburban schools for a better education.
‘The neighborhood just exploded then,? said Gregory.
More homes were built as more and more families moved from the inner city.
Callie Johnson had nine children, five from an earlier marriage: William Douglas, born in 1936; Roslynn Douglas, 1938; Callie Douglas, 1941; Errol Douglas, 1943; Brooksie Newton, 1947; Gregory Johnson, 1955; Darrell Johnson, 1959 – 1999; Mark Johnson, 1962; and Tammy (Johnson) Pittman, 1963. Callie is grandmother to more than 30 children and great’grandmother to more children than the family can count. Pittman said the grandchildren live all over the United States.
The Johnson family was nominated as ‘Family of the Year? by the Michigan Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1985. An article in The Clarkston News,Oct. 1985, describes Callie Johnson as ‘a woman of fundamental convictions, optimistic, friendly and compassionate.? The article said her life was her family and her church.
Johnson’s children remember her as strict. Newton and Pittman said they were not allowed to date in high school. Newton remembers her mother once chaperoned her and sat between her and her beau at the movies.
Johnson describes herself in the Northwest Oakland County Herald, Dec. 1985, ‘I guess I was a little strict. They couldn’t go to parties and dances. They lived by the religion of the house. I chose what they could watch on television.?
The children remember when their mom would turn the television off if a swear word was said.
Gregory Johnson remembers taking a trip to Canada with his college girlfriend without telling his mother. Mrs. Johnson was so frantic she called every hospital in Michigan, every police department and every friend Gregory had.
Pittman says she did not date until after high school. She remembers her mom went everywhere with them, to all their school and sporting events.
‘I never sent the kids with anyone ? I took them. We have fun together. I went everywhere the kids went,? Johnson said in the Northwest Oakland County Herald.
Six of Johnson’s children attended the Clarkston School District. Daughter Callie was the first African American to graduate from Clarkston High School in 1960.
Tragically, brother Darrell Johnson, a 1976 graduate, died of heart failure in 1999. He was known for his piano playing and was a member of CHS Madrigals.
Newton graduated in 1966. She sang in choir and the play ‘My Fair Lady.? She took forensics (speech) and competed at the state level. She was the first African American to participate in the CHS Junior Miss Contest.
Newton, a Pontiac resident, retired in 2002 from the Pontiac Public Schools where she worked for more than 22 years as a bus driver and custodian. She said growing up in Clarkston was lonely and prefers the urban setting where she raised her family.
Gregory Johnson graduated from Clarkston in 1974. Of his many accomplishments in high school, he played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and Baron Von Trap in The Sound of Music. He wrestled and was captain the team his senior year. He started playing trombone in the fifth grade, and still plays in weekend jam sessions in downtown Pontiac. He says he misses his brother; he could really use a piano player.
Gregory lives in Pontiac with his family and works for General Motors. He will retire in December of 2006.
Mark Johnson graduated in 1980 and enlisted into the Marine Corps. He currently works for Blue Cross Blue Shield. He is a writer and poet; and has written for radio stations. He lives with his family in Detroit.
Tammy (Johnson) Pittman, 43, graduated from Clarkston in 1981. She participated in many activities in school, but is known for being the only African American cheerleader.
Pittman started working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1986 and transferred to the Clarkston office in October 2004. She said she enjoys being there.
‘I have been so happy just to see all my classmates and teachers, the playground teachers, everyone,? said Pittman.
She lived in Detroit for ten years until she was marryied and moved with her family to Davisburg.
Callie Johnson’s oldest children were born in Memphis, Tenn. and did not attend Clarkston schools.
William Douglas is an artist in Missouri and goes by the name Zookstone. He draws chalk and pencil sketches. Roslynn Douglas is a retired dietician living in Detroit. Errol Douglas lives with his family in Trenton and uses his talent in photography. Daughter Callie Douglas lives in Texas and works for a church.
Callie Johnson passed away June 26, 2001, at the age of 81. Walter Johnson passed away in January of 2005 and was a resident of Clarkston for more than 50 years. He worked for General Motors and retired after 31 years. He sold the family home in 2003. Regrettably, none of the children were able to purchase the property.
The ten homes originally built in the 50s ‘All African? neighborhood have blossomed into a full neighborhood. The roads are still dirt, but the homes are newly renovated and remodeled. The children agree there is little resemblance to the neighborhood where they grew up.
Gregory Johnson said he is not interested in going back to see the old family home.
‘If I had to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I loved growing up in Clarkston,? he said. ‘I don’t want to go back. I want to remember it the way it was.?