Howard Johnson

Birth Name:

Howard Deering Johnson

Birth Date:

February 2, 1897

Birth Place:

Boston, Massachusetts

Death Date:

June 20, 1972

Place of Death:

Lennox Hills Hospital, New York, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heart failure

Cemetery Name:

Milton Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Business and Finance

Howard Johnson was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of an American chain of restaurants and motels under one company of the same name, Howard Johnson's. For three years he sold cigars,. and then in 1924, when he was 27, he assumed the debts, liquidated the business and bought a run‐down drugstore near the Wollaston railroad station. It had a soda fountain, candy and tobacco counter and newspaper stand, and Mr. Johnson soon had the place bringing in $30,000 a year with a staff of 75 boys delivering papers. Still, it was not until he bought the ice‐cream recipe of an elderly German pushcart vendor that the business took off. The peddler's secret was in doubling the butterfat content of the commercial ice cream and in using natural, instead of synthetic, flavoring. By 1928 the gross from ice cream sold at the Store and at several beach stands nearby reached $240,000, and seven years later Mr. Johnson had 25 restaurants beside Massachusetts highways. Between 1961 and 1979 revenues for the company grew every year. The Howard Johnson Company continued to expand, growing to over 1,000 restaurants and over 500 motor lodges in 42 states and Canada.

Fun Facts

In 1965 Howard Johnson restaurants had more sales than McDonald’s, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken combined.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Milton Cemetery

211 Centre St, Milton, MA 02186

Milton, Massachusetts, 02186

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Milton Cemetery in Milton, Massachusetts

Grave Location:

Section 412, Lot 1

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery from Gun Hill Street, take the first hard left and continue driving as the road veers to the right. Once the road straightens out, go past the first intersection (Dell Avenue on your right) to the second intersection of Maple Avenue and Balsam Avenue. Look up from the intersection on Maple Drive to your right and you will see the large, upright monument to Mr. Johnson about 40 feet from the road in the first row.