Bryce Alan Johnson, 52, of Tifton passed away Monday, December 2, 2024, at Southwell Medical Center after a sudden illness. His funeral service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at Tifton’s First Methodist Church. The family will receive friends on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at the church from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Pallbearers will be Mark Davis, Mike Hunter, Brian Johnson, Matt Maxwell, and Brad Stribling. Honorary pallbearers will be members of law enforcement, the Tifton Bar Association, and his 2023 Republican Leadership Georgia class.
Bryce was born January 6, 1972, in Sylvester, Georgia, to Terry Raines Achord and the late Donnie Lee Johnson. He also enjoyed a special bond with John Wayne Achord, to whom his mother was married later in Bryce’s life. Bryce leaves behind his beloved sister, Sonya Johnson Maxwell (Matt) of Sylvester, and siblings, Suzanne Johnson Moree of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Brian Johnson (Diane) of Pace, Florida, as well as his aunt and uncle, Penny and Mark Davis, of Sylvester. Bryce is proceeded in death by his grandparents, Earl and Colise Hatcher Raines of Sylvester, Georgia, as well as his father. He leaves to remember him his wife of twenty-two years, Erika Stribling Johnson, and his son, William Alan Johnson.
Bryce attended Worth Academy and was the valedictorian of the Tiftarea Academy class of 1990. He was also the STAR student that year. After attending both ABAC and The University of Georgia, Bryce graduated magna cum laude from Brewton-Parker College in 1995 with a bachelor’s of arts in history. He further earned a Master’s of Arts in history from Valdosta State University in 1998. After several years of providing management and strategy to various political campaigns, he attended Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law, earning a juris doctorate in 2004.
After law school, Bryce began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Oconee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. He later served as an associate at the Carter and Richbourg law firm and was assistant solicitor-general of Tift County, a position he served for fifteen years, until 2020. Bryce was proud to be elected Solicitor-General of his native Worth County in 2008, and he served in that capacity until 2014. He also served as solicitor-general to the towns of Norman Park, Doerun, and Lenox. In 2020, Bryce was elected District Attorney of the Tifton Judicial Circuit. He ran unopposed in seeking a second term in 2024, and expected to begin his new term in just a few weeks.
A lifelong conservative, Bryce showed a marked affinity for politics at an early age. Though he held firm to his own beliefs, he was always able to debate and discuss the most divisive political topics with respect and good humor. Even his elementary school teachers noted how much he added to class discussions, despite having differing political views from the adults in the room.
Bryce’s love of politics carried into his adult life, and he served in various capacities to his local, district and state Republican organizations, including multiple county chairmanships, two district chairmanships, and countless years on the Republican State Committee. He was instrumental in establishing Republican organizations where none had previously existed, including several south Georgia counties and at Mercer Law. Bryce loved the campaign process, and through and after law school continued to talk various friends and associates into running for office. He loved the challenge and strategy of a campaign, and succeeded on several occasions in electing candidates despite significant negative odds. Most recently, Bryce participated in Republican Leadership Georgia, where he met a new group of dear friends who quickly became influential in his life and whom he loved. He also participated in an informal but close-knit group of conservative District Attorneys he dubbed “the Gang.”
As much as Bryce loved politics, he may have enjoyed sports even more. He loved the Worth County Rams and the Florida State Seminoles, and he especially loved the Atlanta Braves, Falcons, and Hawks, though he often lamented that his fandom brought him frequent heartache. Having married a UGA alum, he had returned in later years to cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs as he had with his father in his childhood. He was a founding member of the Tifton Justice League fantasy football organization, where his team bore his nickname, the Vanilla Guerrillas. Bryce loved to pontificate on all things sports, and drew much joy from contributing as The Professor to the Chick Fil A Friday Night Football radio show. Known for his encyclopedic knowledge of facts both important and trivial, Bryce could always recite a team roster, a school’s mascot, a county seat, and a school’s most famous player. He knew almost every back road and alternate route in Georgia and could provide advice on the best restaurant in any given county.
After the arrival of his son, Will, Bryce became a frequent volunteer coach, assisting on almost every team Will played for. He loved to plan trips to various ballparks with Will, adding a new “away” stadium every year, attending Braves Spring Training, and making plans to visit all the MLB ballparks in Will’s teen years.
Raised in the Baptist faith, Bryce was a member of First Methodist Church of Tifton with his wife and family. He was a charter member of the Genesis Sunday School class, which he at times taught, and also served his church and lived his faith through service as president of the church council, on the mission committee, and most recently the staff/parrish committee. He also previously served his community as a member of the board of directors for Ruth’s Cottage and Patticake House.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to Tifton’s First Methodist Church, 107 12th Street West, Tifton, GA 31794 or to the Will Johnson College Fund, created by friends, In Memory of District Attorney Bryce Johnson – Will’s father, at Ameris Bank or Venmo@Paul-Hamilton75.