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Jim's panel is part of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Block number 01158 (lower left hand corner).

James "Jim" Johnson

Tribute by Connell O'Donovan:

In 1988, I volunteered to create a panel for the AIDS quilt. The People with AIDS Coalition of Utah gave me James' name. The only information that they had was that he was a Gay Mormon who had died of AIDS recently (about 1987). His family wanted a quilt panel made but were too fearful to make one themselves and requested that a volunteer create one.

The panel I made for him was black for the night sky. I then painted small lavender stars all over it and then connected them, spelling out his name as a "constellation" in the skies. Walking up the long corridor alone with his panel draped over my arms to officially present James' panel to the national quilt in Salt Lake City was one of the most emotional experiences of my life. The weight of his semi-anonymity nearly crushed me and I cried for several hours solid after the presentation ceremony. May you never be forgotten, Jim...

Connell O'Donovan

If you are interested in making an Affirmation quilt panel in James's memory, please send an email to .

Please add your own tribute by sending an email to James Kent.