Person Number 17

#17 - Herbert Neely Johnston (1911 – 2002) - Herbert was my Grandmother's cousin.


Herbert Neely Johnston was born on March 30, 1911 in Philadelphia and died of cancer on October 10, 2002 at his home in Lower Gwynned, Pennsylvania. Herb’s parents were musicians who enjoyed their visits to Willow Grove Park, where they listened to concerts by the John Philip Sousa and Patrick Conway bands. On one of their trips to the park Herb’s father remarked to his mother, who was awaiting the birth of a child, that if the baby were a boy, he would like to name him Herbert in honor of the world-renowned cornetist Herbert L. Clarke, who was playing that day. His mother agreed, noting that the child’s name could also honor Victor Herbert.

Sadly, today Willow Grove Park is now mostly a parking lot for a cookie-cutter Mall.

Herbert often spoke of this picking-a-name episode as proof that he was marked for a life in music even before his birth. He studied piano at an early age and felt that playing that instrument was an invaluable springboard for other musical endeavors. Later he began playing the cornet and was a member of the Northeast High School Band. In the Depression 1920s Herbert and several other musicians played jazz music on the Philadelphia dance club circuit. His musical education was garnered mostly through his father, although he studied music and harmony at Temple University’s School of Music.

Herbert wanted to follow the musical footsteps of his father and older brother, who were members of the 103rd Engineers National Guard Band. His father was the band director. Herbert enlisted in the National Guard at the age of sixteen, having talked his way around the minimum age requirement of eighteen. He resigned from the band in 1931 because of his demanding schedule at the Philco Corporation. He returned to lead the band briefly in 1937 and 1938, after his father resigned as leader of the band.

In 1941 Herbert earned an engineering degree at Drexel University while working for Philco. He was the plant engineer responsible for designing buildings. He oversaw all the engineering needs of the company throughout the United States. In the early 1940s he founded the Philco Concert Band, comprised of employees, playing especially for war bond rallies. Later the band expanded to seventy members, performing in parks, hospitals and concert halls throughout the area.

Philco is most known for family mantle radios. Philco began marketing car radios in 1930 and later expanded into other areas including air conditioners (1938), refrigerators (1939), home freezers (1946), consumer televisions (1947), electric ranges (1949), home laundry washers & dryers (1954), and home entertainment products. Their first consumer television set, the 1948 table Model 48-1000, had a 10 inch screen and sold for $395 US, or just over $3600 in 2007 US dollars. In 1962, the Philco 2000 Model 212 computer was chosen for use in the North American Aerospace Defense Command's famous Cheyenne Mountain facility. Three of the machines were installed that year and ran until 1980.

When Philco was purchased by the Ford Motor Company in 1961, Herbert left after thirty years of service with them. He then took on two career-enhancing jobs—as president of the International Anodyzing Company in Chicago and as engineer for Catalytic, Inc. in Philadelphia. Although he retired in 1981, Herbert continued to be active as guest conductor and arranger.

Throughout his varied career he composed and arranged music. One of his best-known arrangements is the “Wedding Dance” by Jacques Press which you can hear it (here).

--- source --- americanbandmasters.org/memorials/ABA_Memorials_2009.doc

My niece has some serious music-making genes.