Sumsion Business Law recently announced the Live Like Alex Scholarship honoring the life of beloved community member— Alex Johnson. Through this scholarship we hope to support students who exemplify the attributes that made Alex so special including a devotion to service, love for all those around him, and leadership.
But who was Alex Johnson? We spoke to those who knew him best about what made him so special.
In college Alex played baseball. As a catcher he was often seen as a leader on the team, calling the plays and pitches from behind the batter. This earned him respect from his teammates.
One day his coach, somewhat jokingly, but encouraging, told him he would receive “extra credit” if he signed up to donate bone marrow. Alex looked back at his coach and asked “If all the team signs up, will you give them all extra credit?”
His coach agreed and Alex rallied his teammates. Thanks to his encouragement, most of the team signed up.
Nine years passed and Alex became a husband and father. He was on a family trip to Disneyland when he received a phone call.
“We see that you are a perfect match for a young boy in Europe who needs bone-marrow to save his life. Will you please come and donate?” The speaker on the other side of the phone asked him.
Donating bone marrow required Alex to allow doctors to drill into the back of his hip bone to retrieve the marrow, then a long recovery process. Still, Alex didn’t hesitate. He travelled to the hospital to willingly give himself to save a boy that he never met. Every night Alex prayed for the boy’s survival and recovery, hoping his donation worked
Years later, the organization that facilitated the donation reached out, sending Alex a beautifully handwritten letter by the mother of the boy he donated for, thanking him for his great and humble sacrifice.
No one else on Alex’s baseball team has been called upon to donate, but because of Alex’s actions they still look to him as a leader years later.
Following Alex’s death, one of his classmates wrote a heartfelt letter to his young children to ensure that they never forgot the type of man their father was. Here is an expert from that letter:
“He was the most popular kid in the room, popular for all the right reasons. Everyone liked Alex because he liked everyone. He treated people with kindness, made them laugh, and helped them feel like they belonged. In a room full of all kinds of kids, your dad always noticed the one who needed a friend, and he was that friend.
He used his popularity to lift others, to include, and to make people feel seen. That’s one of the reasons he stood out and was loved by so many.
From this letter we can see that Alex didn’t just grow into an amazing man, even at a young age he was the type of person we all strive to be. Kind, loving, and accepting. He sought to reach out to others and bring them into the fold.
A leader does not always have to be the loudest, most loved person in the room. Leadership can be quiet. It can be reaching out and being a friend and leading by example. This story is another form of leadership by Alex, but a quiet one.
-Story from a classmate and friend.
As a young boy, Alex would spend hours inventing. He would search his family’s garage for supplies and build something out of nothing. He created a 9-hole golf course for all his neighbors with each of his friends' yards as one of the holes, then spent time mowing one neighbor's lawn for free so that they would allow him to use his yard for his game. The most difficult hole was a shot that went over a barn, and had cows and an electric fence as hazards.
He also grew up on a mountain. In the garage he found an old box spring and mounted wheels to the corners. Using a rope. he attached it to a four wheeler then piled all his friends on top to drive around. His mom said she could “hear them from across the canyon- screaming, laughing, weaving down (and even off) the long wooded country roads.”
Another time he and his friend gathered old boots and duct taped them to snow shoes then used them to ski down a rocky part of the mountain.
When Alex invited, his friends showed up, knowing that he had a talent for turning ordinary events into adventures. In summary of his childhood his mom said “He loved life and it showed by those who followed.”
Alex Lawrence Johnson wasn’t an ordinary man. Most people live life feeling that they are their own main character, but Alex was selfless. He was humble enough to look outside himself and love others, but confident enough to lead them too. He encouraged others to love life, and serve others too. He was a loving father and loved those he didn’t know too.
For the Live Like Alex Scholarship, we at Sumsion Business Law want you to show us how you live that uplifts others. Look outside yourself, serve your community, love your neighbors and your family too. By doing so you set yourself up to lead a good and happy life and to be the type of person that we wish to financially support through the gift of this scholarship.
With any questions about the Live Like Alex Scholarship visit the scholarship page or email scholarship@businesslawutah.com.