Summerfield Johnston Jr.
Summerfield Johnston Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 28, 1932 |
| Education | University of Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, polo player |
| Spouse(s) | Lavinia Dabney Neill Johnston Gil Johnston |
| Children | Lavinia Johnston Summerfield Johnston III Gillian Johnston |
| Parent | Summerfield Johnston Sr. |
Summerfield Johnston Jr. (born August 28, 1932), aka Skey Johnston, is an American businessman and polo player.[1][2] He served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises from 1991 to 2001.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Early life
Summerfield Johnston Jr. was born in 1932 and grew up on the 4,000-acre Bendabout Farm in McDonald, Bradley County, Tennessee.[2] His grandfather was James F. Johnston, the founder of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the first Coca-Cola franchisee.[3][5][7][8] His father, Summerfield Johnston Sr., worked for the family business.[5] He graduated from the University of Virginia, where he played polo in 1951.[2]
Career
He joined the Board of Directors of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in 1959.[4] In 1991, he merged it with Coca-Cola Enterprises.[4] He served as its Chairman and CEO from 1991 to 2001.[5]
He is a former Board member of SunTrust Banks and SunTrust Bank of Chattanooga, N. A.[4] He sits on the Board of Trustees of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and The University of Chattanooga Foundation.[4]
Polo
Johnston is a left-handed polo player.[1] In the 1950s, he organized polo matches on his family farm in McDonald, Tennessee.[2] He later founded the Chattanooga Polo Club, later known as the Bendabout Polo Club.[2] He served as the long-time president of the Gulfstream Polo Club in Lake Worth, Florida.[1] He served as Vice President of the United States Polo Association from 1979-1989, President from 1980-1984 and as Chairman from 1984-1988, and still sits on its Board as a governor-at-large.[1][4] He owns the Flying H ranch in Big Horn, Wyoming, home to the Flying H Polo Club, and the Everglades Polo Club in Wellington, Florida.[2]
In 1982, he was awarded the Hugo Dalmar Trophy for exemplary sportsmanship.[1] On February 17, 2001, he was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame.[1] He is a proponent of the return of polo to the Olympic Games.[1]
Personal life
His British-born wife, Gil Johnston, is Vice President of the Polo Training Foundation.[2][9] His late son was Summerfield Johnston III, a renowned polo player who served as Vice President of Coca-Cola Enterprises.[7] His daughter, Gillian Johnston, is also a polo player and serves as governor-at-large of the United States Polo Association.[2] His grandson, William Lasater Johnston Thornton, son of James Thornton of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Lavinia Johnston of Chattanooga, Tennessee,[10] manages the Maryland Polo Club.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Benjamin Butler, A Passion for Polo: The Johnston Family Legacy[permanent dead link], CitysScope
- ^ a b Coca-Cola Enterprises: Cola-Cola History Archived 2015-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Board of Trustees biography[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d Local families have Coke connection, Chattanooga Free Press, February 26, 2010
- ^ The Bottleneck At Coca Cola Enterprises, Bloomberg Businessweek, September 13, 1992
- ^ a b c Memorial Service Set Tuesday For Cleveland's Skeeter Johnston, The Chattanoogan, April 7, 2007
- ^ a b Betsy Morris, Patricia Sellers, What Really Happened At Coke Doug Ivester was a demon for information. But he couldn't see what was coming at the showdown in Chicago., CNN, January 10, 2000
- ^ Nicole Lever, Gillian Johnston's Passion For Horses Has Never Dwindled, The Chronicle of the Horse, January 26, 2005
- ^ Thornton, William. "Certificate of Live Birth #141-80 023676". State of Tennessee Department of Public Health - Vital Records.