I’ve never found much solace in the phrase “he will be missed.” Somehow, it seems trite and dismissive when summarizing the passing of a person with whom we’ve shared space and time. For me, and many others who crossed paths with or worked with Gale Johnson, a simple colloquialism just won’t do. Gale defined an industry that once advertised for its locksmiths on the back pages of Popular Mechanics magazine post World War II to entice returning vets into the profession and became today’s digital technology world of “touchless” and mobile devices, and he bridged the generations of those who plied his craft.
Working alongside Gale for close to three decades on Locksmith Ledger International magazine, I continuously was struck by the genuine happiness he exuded in almost every task he undertook. He seemed to possess that rarest of human gifts of those who understand that happiness can’t be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.
Gale appreciated what he had and was thankful for the little things in life that mean a lot. Whether it was hosting his rollicking technology road shows on behalf of Locksmith Ledger with hundreds of adoring locksmith readers around the country or sharing his sassy barbs with security vendors at trade shows as he critiqued their products and always offered a more workable solution, he was content. Sweat equity was part of his happiness quotient, a quality of the “greatest generation” seldom spoke of but continually exhibited. Building his own home in the northern Chicago suburbs, playing and then officiating amateur hockey to well into his late 70s and mentoring his special-needs son all were a part of the DNA that defined his joy and earmarked priorities of family.
In December 2020, Gale retired after 32 years as the Editor-in-Chief of Locksmith Ledger, doing what he always did, putting his priorities in order to fight the cancer he had battled in silence and without fanfare. Today, however, Gale Johnson, our friend and colleague, quietly left this earth, dying in the home he built surrounded by the family he loved. He was 84.
In the business press, having an actual practitioner steering the media to a niche audience is a bonus few magazines enjoy. But as we mentioned when he retired, Gale’s locksmith lineage was legit. His family is a fixture in the locksmith community in the Chicago area, establishing the original Evanston Lock Shop as a one-person operation located in a garage behind an old Marshall Field building almost 100 years ago in 1927. During the past 75 years, four Johnson generations have concentrated on meeting the security demands of North Shore residents and businesses.
Gale left the family business in the hands of his wife, Muriel, and his sons when he went to work for various lock manufacturers through the mid-1970s into the ’80s. However, his life and the fabric of the locksmith industry was changed in 1987 when the publisher of the Locksmith Ledger requested an article on key machines from Gale. A year later he was named editor of the magazine and held that position until 2020. As Gale said: “I never expected the result to become a thirty-year odyssey.”
Gale shared the joy of 30 years in the industry with me when he announced his retirement to the staff, saying, “There is no adequate way to detail all the great experiences gained throughout these three decades. I have had the opportunity to represent Locksmith Ledger in Ireland, Norway, Italy and Hawaii with dozens of points in between. I have attended every ALOA convention and SHDA convention since 1988 except one. Frequent visits to local locksmith association conventions and LedgerWorlds provided many chances to tell the Locksmith Ledger story. Every moment was enjoyable. People made the difference. Whether it was individual locksmiths in small towns or important manufacturers around the world, they all have a common interest. I never met a person in this business who did not have something worthwhile to share with me.”
Those whom he embraced in business lovingly regarded him as the “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” of the locksmith industry. “Gale was such a gentleman,” says Securitech Group President and Chief Product Officer Mark Berger. “I valued each and every conversation with him for his clarity, knowledge and courtesy. I remember him walking the aisle at a trade show, and I’d patiently wait my turn for him to come by. He wrote the book on old school. Gale was always encouraging, but direct and honest.”
Gale’s old friend, Clyde Roberson, the director of product management and field services at Medeco Security Locks adds that, to him, Gale’s career in the locksmith field was nothing short of amazing.
“His influence on this industry has spanned many years and numerous changes,” Roberson says. “From starting out in and then taking over his father’s lockshop just north of Chicago, to developing tools, books and software for the locksmith trade, to working and consulting for manufacturers, like ABLOY, Fort Lock, Framon and many others, to inventing both patents and essential tools way ahead of their time, to finally landing at the Locksmith Ledger to guide the magazine and industry, with his insight and wisdom for our craft, Gale’s career has had a positive impact like few others. He will always be an inspiration, a friend and colleague with an immense knowledge, dedication, creativity and understanding of this vocation that have made us all wiser, kinder, smarter and just plain better.”
Locksmith industry veterans, such as Buzz Bayliss, encountered Gale mostly at the myriad locksmith events he attended or participated in as a guest speaker. But it was through the magazine that Bayliss and others marveled at the editor’s depth of knowledge and understanding of trending technology that eventually would shape the industry before most vendors caught on.
“What separated Gale from most was that he had and was living the life so similar to his core subscriber base,” Bayliss recalls. “He was a lockshop owner. His editorials often reflected his local solution to a situation that was common across the country. We each shared the theme that the local lockshop needed to learn to market itself to its community. Our conversations were often about what each thought was the topic of the moment as we stood in a pipe and drape aisle sharing thoughts. Often his thought would trigger another topic in my mind. We looked at the industry from very different viewpoints, yet he was always ready to learn a new detail. He was a person that I looked forward to 'bumping into,' as the conversation was lively, we were both engaged and I always learned from each of them.”
Marissa Mayer, the former president and CEO of Yahoo once was quoted as saying that you can't have everything you want, but you can have the things that really matter to you. There couldn’t be a more appropriate epitaph for Gale Johnson than this.
