VIDALIA — For those who had ever met him, it wasn’t Mr. Johnson or District Attorney Johnson — it was just John.

The former Seventh Judicial District Attorney John Frederick Johnson died Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Johnson, 58, was elected district attorney in 1984 at the age of 31, becoming the youngest man ever to hold the Seventh Judicial District post for Catahoula and Concordia parishes.

He held the position for four terms, the last three of which were unchallenged. He held the position longer than any other district attorney in the district’s history.

Current District Attorney Brad Burget took office in 2009 after Johnson’s last term and had worked for six years prior as Johnson’s assistant.

Burget said one thing he still takes from Johnson to this day is the importance of familiarizing yourself with the community.

For Johnson, the best way to do that was to be on first name basis with everyone.

“He would always stop anyone who tried to call him anything else and say, ‘It’s just John,’” Burget said. “He just wanted people to feel comfortable around him and for people to communicate with him on whatever problems they had.”

Johnson defeated current Division B judge Leo Boothe for the position of district attorney 28 years ago.

Boothe said the race was anything but competitive and that no grudges were ever held.

“I went to his victory party,” Boothe said. “When I ran the time before, he had been my campaign manager, so the second time I said lets let John be the DA.”

Boothe said the relationships Johnson built with the community were what made him a successful district attorney, but that he had always been a natural leader.

“Had he been more ambitious, he could have gone to higher levels, but he wanted to stay at home and be a good ole boy,” Boothe said. “Nothing I can say about him can live up to the great man he was.”

Investigator Paul Scott worked with Johnson for 29 years and said he was a great asset for rural areas like Concordia and Catahoula parishes.

“He taught me that law enforcement is not just putting people in jail, its also helping people,” Scott said. “He’s right there with the best of them.”

Scott said Johnson was the first in the state to start the juvenile pretrial program.

The program focuses on keeping up with first offense juveniles after their trials to ensure they don’t become repeat offenders.

Burget said Johnson also told stories to break the ice with people, which earned him the nickname “the Storyteller.”

“If you worked for him you heard the same stories over and over, but it was his way to make the people around him feel comfortable,” Burget said. “He took those same qualities into the courtroom, and it was a great way to find the truth in people.”

Burget said his time working with Johnson was invaluable and knows he will always be in remembered inside and outside the courtroom.

“I just know that he’s going to be missed by the community and also by his staff, more than he’ll ever realize,” Burget said. “I’ll be lucky to accomplish 1/10th of what he accomplished.”

Services will be at 2 p.m. today at First Baptist Church in Harrisonburg followed by burial at Riser Funeral Home in Columbia, La.