Finley's Hosts Fundraiser to Benefit Local Family Tuesday

Finley's Irish Pub is hosting a benefit Jan. 29 to help the wife and young children of a Largo man who died in a car crash Dec. 26 in Tennessee, said Finley's owner Mark Ternes.

The fundraiser, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will include appetizers and a silent auction with gift baskets collected from local businesses, said Carmen Abadji, who is helping with the fundraiser.

The fundraiser is being organized by Applebee's co-workers of Melissa Johnson, who lost her husband Chris on Dec. 26, Abadji said.

"She's a good friend and a great person, anything I can do to help," Abadji said.

The Johnson family went up to visit family around Christmas. They had only been in Tennessee a couple of hours when Chris and his brother-in-law went to get gas, Abadji said. 

The two Florida men were traveling on East Brainerd Road in Chattanooga when their car went off the road, hit a rock and then a tree. Both men died at the scene, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Johnson, 37, was born in Largo and graduated from Osceola High School. He worked for ConMed Linvatec, according to his obituary on Legacy.com.

If You Go

What: Chris Johnson Family Fundraiser

Where: Finley's Irish Pub, 13477 Belcher Rd. S.

When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29

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