Johnson, dies, remembered as pioneer exporter

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has hailed Harris Paints founder Ralph Bruggadung Johnson, as a pioneer post-Independence industrialist and leading exporter of Barbadian products.

Johnson, also a keen sportsman and accomplished sports administrator, died today, aged 80.

In a statement, Mottley said Johnson led the trade of Barbadian products into the Eastern Caribbean and beyond as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Harris Group of Companies.

She praised Johnson for his creativity, leadership and hard work that led Harris Paints to become a household name, in Barbados and across the region.

“But for all his successes as a manufacturer, you cannot chronicle his life journey without pausing to consider his considerable achievements in, and contribution to, sports in this country,” the Prime Minister said.

“For more than two decades, starting in 1986, he sat as a member of the board of the National Olympic Committee and was a principal architect in the founding of the local lottery, from which sports was always a major beneficiary.”

An avid sportsman, Johnson also served as president of the Barbados Yachting Association, the Barbados Squash Rackets Association, the Caribbean Area Squash Rackets Association and the Caribbean Yachting Association.

In his younger days, he played basketball, football, water polo and squash, and was also known as an avid motor racing competitor, with his colleagues in the Barbados Rally Club describing him as a spectacular driver.

“His business success and love for sports no doubt contributed to the name Harris Paints being associated with several teams in a variety of sports as the sponsor. It was this long and distinguished contribution to sports and business that led to him being awarded the Gold Crown of Merit in 1997,” she said.

The Prime Minister noted that above all of Johnson’s accomplishments, he was a “Bajan” and it showed in the way in which he interacted with others.

Mottley declared: “He was Bajan by name and by nature and anyone who knew him knew that what you saw was what you got with him.

Johnson is survived by wife Isabelle; children Jason, Jade, James, Tracy and Amanda; brother Paul Johnson and sisters Lady Straker, Rosemarie Smith and Diane Primo.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb