Ernesta Johnson Fay

Ernesta “Ernie” Johnson Fay, age 71, of Heathrow, FL, passed away on Tuesday August 4, 2015. She was born to the late John and Cecile Zaro in Paterson, New Jersey, on December 7, 1943, while her father was serving in the U.S. Army in France. Ernie graduated from Delaware Township High School (now Cherry Hill) with honors in 1960, at the age of 16. She was an active member of the two communities in which she made her home, Columbus, OH, and Heathrow, FL, supporting, in Ohio, the PTA, the Worthington Hills Garden Club, the Columbus Zoo, and the Orange Johnson House. In Heathrow, she was a member of the Women’s Club, supported the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and took on various roles in her church.

Her real passion was helping children. Throughout her years she tutored and mentored many students while working with schools and teachers to facilitate fundraisers for underprivileged youngsters. She also was a generous supporter of Unbound, through which she proudly sponsored several children in a Catholic school in Guatemala, from Kindergarten through high school graduation.

Anyone who came into contact with Ernie immediately recognized her zest for life and love of learning. She applied meticulous determination to any activity she undertook, be it raising her children, baking her grandmother’s mandeltorte, the challenge of a high ropes course, skiing in the Swiss Alps, or attending neurology courses at Oxford University in London. She was thrilled to travel the world, visiting major European cities, South America, Hawaii, Alaska, and many destinations across the continental United States.

Ernie was an avid reader for whom books were a treasured source of learning. Her book club and its friends were near and dear to her heart. The book club presented her with opportunities to expand her knowledge of life and world history by exploring a multitude of subjects as well as taking field trips to the locations in books she had read.

She dearly loved her children and grandchildren and thoroughly enjoyed participating in their education, whether through serious reading, cooking or playing games. Ernie was truly in her element sitting around the kitchen table playing anything from Old Maid to Trivial Pursuit. Her love of cooking was happily shared and encouraged to both her children and grandchildren with many cooking feasts in her kitchen.

Preceded in death by her husband Ronald Fay, she is survived by daughter Jennifer Nester, husband Steven, and their children Luke and Amelia, of Delaware, OH; son Zachary Johnson, wife Shannon, and their children Max, Nate, and Ellie, of Naples, FL; stepdaughter Kelly Fay Brown, husband Larry, of Lewis Center, OH, and their three children Tarah, married to Ben Ballinger, Derek Brown and wife Natalie, and Kevin Brown; stepdaughter Erin Fay, of Columbus, OH, and stepson Chris Fay, of Columbus, OH; sister Nicole Zaro Stahl and her two children, Alex and Anson Stahl, of San Francisco; and loving companion Garry Connell, of Heathrow,FL.

Ernie’s life will be celebrated with calling hours on Friday, August 7th at Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, Sanford, FL, and on Friday, August 14th , with calling hours at 10 am and a funeral service at 11 am at the United Methodist Church in Powell, Ohio and a graveside committal service immediately following at Resurrection Cemetery located in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Memorial donations can be made to the Unbound nonprofit organization, 1 Elmwood Ave, Kansas City, KS 66103, www.unbound.org.