Chris Leevy Johnson

Chris Leevy - President and Managing Director at Leevys Funeral Home in Columbia, SC

Licensed Funeral Director #2519

Dr. Chris Leevy Johnson is the husband of Cynthia Richardson Johnson and the father of a daughter, Leah and a son, Ian Samuel. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, he is a son of Attorney I. S. Leevy and the late Doris Wright Johnson.  Dr. Leevy Johnson is a 1996 Honor graduate of the University of North Carolina, majoring in Honors American History.  While attending the University of North Carolina, he served as a Head Manager for the Men’s Basketball Team under legendary Coach Dean Smith and was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Dr. Leevy Johnson attended Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science, graduating with an Associate’s Degree in Mortuary Science in 1997.  He has a Master’s Degree in American History as well as a Ph.D. in American History with a concentration in African-American Religion from the University of South Carolina.   His dissertation entitled “Undertakings:  The Politics of African-American Funeral Directing,” examines the political and social significance of African-American Funeral Directors during the 20thcentury.  He served as an Adjunct Professor of African-American History at the University of South Carolina followed by fifteen years as the Life Coach for the University of South Carolina Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams.  He currently serves as an Assistant Head Football Coach and Assistant  Basketball Coach at Ridge View High School in Columbia, South Carolina. A fourth-generation funeral director, he is a Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer and is the Managing Director of the Leevy’s Funeral Home.  He holds designation as a Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP) from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice. An ordained Baptist minister, Dr. Leevy Johnson was ordained to preach the gospel at the Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, South Carolina, where Reverend Charles B. Jackson, Sr. is the pastor, and serves currently as the Campus Pastor of Brookland Baptist Church, Northeast.