THIS PAST WEEKEND, news of a huge and unexpected loss in Massachusetts politics rippled through my phone: Phil Johnston had passed away. As soon as I heard, I was stopped in my tracks — and immediately thought about breakfast.  

Just shy of 25 years ago, Phil Johnston was the new chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. I was a college student running the Young Democrats of Massachusetts from a fax machine on a folding table in my studio apartment.  

A lot of party chairs would have ignored someone like me. Not Phil. He called me up and invited me for a breakfast meeting at the Parker House.  

I don’t think I had ever had a breakfast meeting before, and I had most definitely never been to the Parker House — let alone with someone who was a regular there and who greeted almost every other power player in the room as he made his way to the table.  

I had moved to Massachusetts from rural Pennsylvania maybe two years before, not knowing a soul and having this vague idea that I was interested in politics. It’s an understatement to say I was intimidated at that first meeting. 

During our breakfast, Phil put me at ease. He told stories of his days organizing as a young person. He cracked jokes. He not only asked me my opinion and for my ideas, but he listened. And he wanted to know how he could both support our work with the Young Dems, and also me personally.  

He let us use the conference room in his company’s office building, and always magically made sure pizza was waiting for us when we showed up. He donated to the organization. He encouraged me to run for a seat on the Democratic State Committee, and when I won put me on committees that exposed me to all sorts of people and types of work within the party.  

Later, when I ran for office in Brookline and beyond, he was always in my corner — loudly and enthusiastically, with his signature hearty laugh and a little bit of bluster. 

Of course, Phil did so much for so many — on a macro level as well as for countless individuals. It seems that everyone who knew Phil has a story to tell.  

Amy Rosenthal, now the executive director of Health Care for All, was just getting her sea legs in Massachusetts politics back in the day when she was introduced to Phil by her then-boss at the health care nonprofit Community Catalyst, the legendary Rob Restuccia. That meeting, while she was a lower-level staffer working for a big local figure, turned into decades of having Phil as her cheerleader.  

Amy lights up when describing what it meant to have someone with his resume have faith in her, especially at an early stage of her career as a young woman making her way in the health care policy world in the Commonwealth.  

“Phil was just one of those constants in my career,” said Amy. “And his confidence in me gave me that little extra bit of confidence in myself.”  

Wakefield Town Councilor Jonathan Chines is a fellow former Young Democrat, who spent a summer while in graduate school working for Phil’s firm. Jonathan points to Phil’s instinctive support of young people, giving freely of his time and advice, and centering youth voices.  

When the Supreme Judicial Court handed down its landmark 2003 marriage equality decision, Phil sought out a statement from the Young Democrats to include in the official party response — a platform that was not commonly given to the party’s young activists.  

Of course, Jonathan heard more than his fair share of Phil’s incredible stories, talking a blue streak about Bobby Kennedy or another political legend. You never knew when a conversation about work would turn into a laughter-filled stroll down memory lane.

“He was so passionate about the work, but also so much fun to be around,” said Jonathan.  

For me, Phil’s simple act of taking me seriously — when I was young, unconnected, and inexperienced, but idealistic and ready to get to work — was so powerful. All these years later, I still remember every detail about that breakfast. I know where we sat. I know what I ate. But mainly I know that this man who could have easily dismissed me instead decided to take me seriously, encourage me, and invest in me. 

On Sunday the Massachusetts political world will come together to celebrate Phil’s life. I will be there, thinking about Phil’s example. Phil understood that young people aren’t just the future of the party or the nation, they’re a vital part of our present. For that – like Amy and Jonathan — I am forever in his debt.   

Jesse Mermell is president and founder of deWit Impact Group. She’s a former member of the Brookline Select Board and served as communications director under Gov. Deval Patrick.