Norman Elwood Johnson Jr., a retired Baltimore District Court judge known for his courtroom patience, died of cancer July 12 at Gilchrist Hospice Center in Towson. The Homeland resident was 77. “He was a generous and kind man,” said Rabbi Etan Mintz of the B’nai Israel Synagogue. “He was a person who befriended people from different backgrounds and saw their common humanity. He saw the good in .