Rev. Philip Rodine Johnson, 64, a Lutheran cleric who ministered daily at a maximum-security prison, died of stomach cancer in his Dwight, Ill., home Monday, June 17. From November 1989 until early this year, he was chaplain at Dwight Correctional Center, the women’s state prison, and friends say he relished the work. “Prison ministry is a special calling,” said Lynn Cahill-Masching, the warden there. “Not everybody can or wants to do that. When you find somebody who does, it’s a special gift.” Rev. Johnson led services in a chapel on prison grounds. For those in the infirmary or “disciplinary confinement,” he visited in person. A Chicago native, Rev. Johnson earned a master of divinity degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., in 1965. Before becoming a prison chaplain, Rev. Johnson was a drug and alcohol counselor in Chicago at Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. He is survived by his wife, Grace; a son, Peter; his sister, Robin Jaruszewski; and two grandchildren. Visitation will be held Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hager Memorial Home, 201 W. Mazon Ave., Dwight. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 326 W. Chippewa St., Dwight.
