Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson, known to News 4 San Antonio viewers as the voice that advised them on weather and traffic conditions from the Sky 4 helicopter in time for their morning commutes, died after a brief illness Saturday. He was 31. Johnson knew he wanted to be in broadcasting by the time he graduated from John Marshall High School, where he played football. Getting a job at Texas Sports News Radio at 19, Johnson announced high school football games, driving from San Marcos, where he was attending Texas State University, to San Antonio a couple of times a week. "He loved San Antonio and loved everything about high school football," his longtime friend Robert Adam Vernon said. "He knew all the teams, the coaches; he had a lot of local knowledge." Working an internship in sports at News 4, Johnson was hired by the station after he graduated from Texas State in 2009. Working his way up in a variety of jobs, Johnson became a regular in the morning helicopter when the "station needed photographers to go up there," said Vernon, who worked with Johnson at the time. At first "we weren't on air at all." It was when Johnson did an impromptu broadcast during a weather event that the station realized his talent. "He was so natural and sounded so good, they decided he would do it all the time," Vernon said. "They created the on-air personality in the helicopter for him." Though Johnson had been friends with his future wife in high school, the couple didn't get together until a few years after they graduated. Once he made up his mind to propose, Johnson didn't waste any time. "We were sitting at work one day and Eric said, 'I think I'm going to ask Stephanie to marry me" Vernon recalled. "He left to go on a job, then came back with a ring not an hour and a half later; that was just Eric he never took anything slowly; it was at 100 miles-an-hour or not at all." To Johnson, acquiring more family was a plus. "He was very much about family," said co-worker and friend Darlene Dorsey. "His wife, their two dogs, his niece and nephew." Especially close to his father, Eric spoke to him every day and they often went hunting and fishing together. "He idolized his father, you could tell," Vernon said. "He looked up to him big time." Eric leaves behind to cherish his memories; wife Stephanie Brisbin; parents Brent and Sherry Johnson; sisters Jessica Johnson and Robin Johnson; many friends and extended family. "Reprinted with permission from the San Antonio Express News"