View source for Summerfield Johnston III

{{Short description|American businessman and polo player}}
{{Infobox person 
| name =Summerfield Johnston III
| image = 
| caption = 
| birth_name =
| birth_date =January 8, 1954
| birth_place =[[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], US
| death_date ={{Death date and age|2007|4|5|1954|1|8}}
| death_place =[[Palm Beach, Florida]], US
| resting_place = 
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality =
| other_names = 
| known_for = 
| education =[[Eckerd College]] 
| employer = 
| occupation =Businessman, polo player
| title =
| term = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| party =
| boards = 
| spouse =Leslie Buttram Johnston
| children =1
| parents =[[Summerfield Johnston, Jr.]]<br/>Gil Johnston
| relatives =[[Gillian Johnston (polo player)|Gillian Johnston]] <small>(sister)</small>
}}
'''Summerfield Johnston III''', a.k.a. Skeeter Johnston, (1954-2007) was an American businessman and polo player.<ref name="bloodhorse">[http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/38325/skeeter-johnson-polo-player-dies Skeeter Johnson, Polo Player, Dies], ''[[The Blood-Horse]]'', April 6, 2007</ref><ref name="chattanoogan">[http://www.chattanoogan.com/2007/4/7/105033/Memorial-Service-Set-Tuesday-For.aspx Memorial Service Set Tuesday For Cleveland's Skeeter Johnston], ''[[The Chattanoogan]]'', April 7, 2007</ref><ref name="flying">[http://www.flyinghpolo.com/skeeter.htm Flying H Polo Club biography]</ref><ref name="sunsentinel">Sharon Robb, Stephanie Horvath [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225422/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2007-04-07/news/0704070040_1_palm-beach-polo Polo's Skeeter Johnston dies from injuries at 53], ''[[Sun-Sentinel]]'', April 7, 2007</ref><ref name="horsebound">Herbert Spencer, [http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/389/115854.html Polo world stunned by death of American player] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113042857/http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/389/115854.html |date=2010-11-13 }}, ''[[Horse & Hound]]'', 12 April 2007</ref><ref name="rizzo">Gwen Rizzo, [http://www.poloplayersedition.com/test2/archives/art0507.php A Tribute to Summerfield K Johnston III], ''[[Polo Players' Edition]]''</ref><ref name="cityscope">Benjamin Butler, [http://www.cityscopemag.com/CS5.11/03Polo.pdf A Passion for Polo: The Johnston Family Legacy]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''CitysScope''</ref>

==Early life==
Skeeter Johnson was born in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], on January 8, 1954.<ref name="flying"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/> He attended Bright School grammar school and [[Baylor School]] in Chattanooga.<ref name="flying"/> He graduated from [[Eckerd College]] in [[St Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/> His great-grandfather was [[James F. Johnston]], the founder of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the first Coca-Cola franchiser.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/> His father, [[Summerfield Johnston, Jr.]], served as the former Chairman and CEO of the [[Coca-Cola Enterprises]].<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/><ref name="cityscope"/> He had three sisters, Katherine Johnston Tudor, Lavinia Johnston, Gillian Johnston and one brother, Robert Johnston.<ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="flying"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/>

==Career==
He joined his family's Coca-Coca Bottling Company and served as President of its food and restaurant division and of its [[Australia]]n subsidiary, WinPac Ltd.<ref name="flying"/> He was then President of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company Northwest in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]] and of Coca-Cola Bottling Company of [[Cleveland, Tennessee]].<ref name="flying"/><ref name="rizzo"/> In the aftermath of the 1991 merger of the Johnston Coca-Cola Bottling Group with Coca-Cola Enterprises, he served as Vice President of Human Resources, Senior Vice President and President of the Eastern North American Group, responsible for bottling operations in the eastern United States, and Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer.<ref name="flying"/><ref name="rizzo"/> He retired from Coca-Cola Enterprises in February 2004, and served on its board of directors from 2004 to 2007.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="flying"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/>

He sat on the Boards of Directors of the [[Krystal (restaurant)|Krystal]] [[restaurant chain]], [[MetalTek International]], a specialty metal casting company, [[SunTrust Banks|SunTrust Bank]] of Chattanooga, N. A., Southern Screens Entertainment, a real estate and multi-screen cinema house company in [[Argentina]], and [[e-Skye Solutions]], a distributor of channel management software.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="flying"/><ref name="rizzo"/> He sat on the Board of Trustees of the [[Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation]].<ref name="flying"/><ref name="rizzo"/>

==Polo==
He played polo for thirty-five years.<ref name="chattanoogan"/> He was a governor-at-large of the [[United States Polo Association]].<ref name="horsebound"/><ref name="cityscope"/> He was a co-founder of the [[North American Polo League]] in 2005.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/><ref name="horsebound"/><ref name="rizzo"/><ref name="cityscope"/> He was a principal partner of the [[Flying H Polo Club]] in [[Big Horn, Wyoming]].<ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="flying"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/> He was a patron and a player of the Skeeterville team.<ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="cityscope"/> He was Captain of the teams that won the $100,000 Gold Cup, a 26-goal tournament, in 1988; the Cartier International Open, in 1982; the USPA Heritage Cup twice; and the 2003 Hall of Fame Cup.<ref name="flying"/><ref name="cityscope"/> His teams were three times runner up in the United States Open Polo Tournament.<ref name="flying"/><ref name="cityscope"/>

==Personal life==
He was married to Leslie Buttram Johnston, and they had a daughter, Louisa.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="flying"/> They lived in [[Palm Beach, Florida]] and [[Big Horn, Wyoming]].<ref name="flying"/>

==Death==
He died of an injury involving a horse while preparing for the 2007 Stanford U.S. Open championships at the [[Palm Beach International Polo Club]] on April 5, 2007.<ref name="bloodhorse"/><ref name="chattanoogan"/><ref name="sunsentinel"/><ref name="horsebound"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Summerfield, III}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Eckerd College alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Coca-Cola people]]
[[Category:American polo players]]
[[Category:People from Palm Beach, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Big Horn, Wyoming]]