Jeff Johnson is continuously on the move. "You missed another workout," says the popular D-BAT North Canton instructor to me in a playful tone whenever I enter the building. Covered in a fresh layer of perspiration, you'd never know the 51-year-old hitting and pitching guru is approaching retirement at UPS. As it turns out, there's a lot about Johnson few people really know.

"I'm off to volleyball now," says the active instructor after finishing his day's slate of lessons. "Well, off to basketball," he says another day. "Onto another baseball tournament," and so on and so on. With the energy of a toddler, Johnson is pulled in every direction throughout his day - every single day. That's because he's the proud father of eight kids, and he's solemnly committed to not missing a thing.

Ranging in ages from 14 to 34, the Johnson household is anything but conventional by today's cultural standards. The average 2.5 kids and a picket fence may work for a great number of adults these days, but for Jeff, he embraces such chaos. He'd have to, after all, to undertake the responsibility of adopting five of his eight children, all the while, maintaining a marriage with Stephanie that's currently on year 34. So how does he do it?

"It was hectic; always busy," recalls the savvy life veteran when thinking about the starting line to his journey as a family of 10. "We had five that were basically a year apart between the first three (his biological children) and then three years separation with the twins."

Johnson's trio of blood-related children include Chad (34), Patrisha (30), and Cameron (21). Jeff initially became a father in college, while pitching on the baseball team at Walsh University. Despite such a massive life change, Johnson was still able to leave Walsh in 1992 with the school record at the time in wins. Together, he and Stephanie would raise their three children together until fostering children, and ultimately adopting the five they added to the family starting in 2001.

When his now 19-year-old daughter Selina was 12 months old, Jeff remembers quite vividly the sequence of events. “We got the call said, ‘We have a little girl who’s in need of a good home.’ Of course, my wife and I said, ‘Yes, we’ll take her.’”

When Selina’s mother birthed Angel, who is now 18, Jeff and Stephanie agreed that it would benefit the birth sisters to be together, so she was adopted to the family in 2002. The very next year, Chace, now 17, was the first African American to join the family, a dynamic that would happen two more times with Makayla and Jaeda in 2007, both of whom are now 14.

“So, we got a call from Stark County saying, ‘Mom is pregnant again, but this time, it’s twins. Do you want them?’ And we said yes,” recalls the chuckling dad.

Of course, it hasn’t always been easy for the Johnsons. Life seldom is for anyone. But adopting several children who would’ve otherwise faced enormous odds against them growing up in undesirable situations, one could conclude the Johnsons have saved some lives with their generosity, hospitality, and love.

When asked why he chose to take on such a tumultuous way of living, Jeff simply responded with the four words, “Because I was adopted.”

In-and-out of foster care from the ages of three to six, the man who carries around such an infectious disposition of optimism and happiness everywhere he goes was himself in the same shoes his five adopted children are in today. And for all the negative connotations surrounding generational cycles, our very own instructor, here, has now fulfilled one that leaves a meaningful impact on the lives of all his children.

Now, that’s something you’d expect to see in the movies.

Andy Dudones

General Manager, D-BAT North Canton

(330) 993-3228

andrew@dbatnorthcanton.com