PALMETTO, Fla. — Bob Johnson, a former Islamorada mayor, marina owner and Florida Keys Free Press columnist with a passion for public service, died on Dec. 15. He was 82.
Robert Eliot Johnson was born in 1943 in Detroit, Michigan, and most recently lived in Palmetto, just north of Bradenton. He spent 40 years in Islamorada, becoming a familiar presence in the community, and owned Papa Joe’s Marina for 20 of those years.
Johnson began his public service with a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force. In Islamorada, he was elected twice to the Village Council and served as mayor and vice mayor. He also served on Monroe County’s Human Services Advisory Committee, rising to the level of vice chair and chair. Additionally, he served on Islamorada’s Local Planning Agency as well as the Parks and Recreation Citizen’s Advisory Committee…