Sculptures of former Bank President William C. Johnson and Courier newspaper publisher Matthew J. Gill have been installed in the new Township Hall, fulfilling a promise Mayor Anthony Perry made to the Gill family.
The sculptures were created by famed artist Donald DeLue after both township leaders died within six months of each other in the early 1980s. The town hall addition built shortly after was named the Johnson Gill Building in their honor. Both sculptures stood at the door of the building reminding visitors of the importance of being involved and compassionate parts of the community.
When members of Gill’s family met with the mayor after the building was torn down, the Mayor assured them he would have the sculptures back in Town Hall. In the meantime, the sculptures were moved to the Middletown Township library so they could remain on display during construction.
Last month, the library and township moved both sculptures back to the new Town Hall where they oversee the most used meeting room on the first floor of the complex.
Johnson was born Jan.23, 1902 and died Oct. 20, 1981; Gill was born Jan. 7, 1921 and died Feb. 15, 1982. Both were contemporaries and friends of DeLue who was born in 1897 and died in 1988.
DeLue, whose sculptures are internationally known, was highly regarded and held in esteem not only for his sculptures but also his medals and medallions, marveling the world of artisans with the ability to create beauty in both larger than and smaller than life artistic pieces. Many of his sculptures he designed and created in his studio in Leonardo. His Flame Thrower was a significant design created for the New York World’s Fair.
DeLue sculptures now appear in museums, colleges, universities and national parks and historic sites throughout the United States as well as in several locations in France. He has numerous works at Gettysburg and at Valley Forge, as well as his nine-foot-tall sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, which is at Wichita State University in Kansas.
Gill who published The Courier, the township’s most popular weekly newspaper, from 1960 until his death after which it was sold to former State Senator and US Navy Captain Joseph Azzolina. He is recognized on the sculpture for his newspaper, as well as for being an eminent and highly respected Middletown real estate broker and former post commander of the VJW Post 2179. The inscription below the sculpture reads “ He touched many lives in his lifetime.”
The fourth generation of his farming family born in Middletown, the newspaper publisher went to local schools before joining the US Navy and serving in World War II. In addition to founding several other businesses in the township as well as purchasing and expanding the award winning Courier, he was also president of Gill Realty, Gill Associates and Gill Travel. He served the township on the first township Economic Council, the Human Rights Council, the Monmouth County Narcotics Council and the Port of Monmouth. He was honored by the Chamber of Commerce as the Businessman of the Year.”
Johnson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to the United States with his parents in 1910 when the family settled in Keansburg.. He started his banking career as a clerk at the Keansburg National Bank, then worked for several years at Irving Trust in New York, before returning to the Keansburg Bank. He then rose through the ranks from clerk to bank president, remaining as president when it became the Keansburg Middletown Bank, and Chairman of the Committee when that merger then became United Counties National Bank. He also served the township as a Township Committeeman, planning board member, tax assessor and tax collector.
Beneath his sculpture are the words by which long time local residents remember Johnson: “A Banker with a Heart.”
