Richard Oliver Johnson, Sr., 57, passed away on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at his home in Fort Mill, South Carolina. He had severe hemophilia A and was the outreach worker for the Hemophilia Association of New Jersey and the Delaware Valley Chapter of NHF.

Johnson was one of the most successful Chapter Outreach Demonstration Project (CODP) workers in New Jersey and in the Philadelphia area. He identified large numbers of underserved African-American and other minority men and women affected by HIV and hemophilia.  He was also a member of the Men’s Advocacy Network of the National Hemophilia Foundation (MANN). Since 2005 Johnson had been an active member of NHF’s Multicultural Task Force. In 1997 he received NHF’s Volunteer of the Year Award.

“I remember Rich Johnson from the early Men’s Advocacy Network,” said Val Bias, NHF CEO. “The challenges of outreach and education he faced in the New Jersey/Philadelphia area were some of the worst in our national network, but Richard never failed to impress. I will always think of Rich as the heart and soul of the outreach these men accomplished on behalf of the bleeding disorders community.”