Edna Marie Johnson

Edna Marie Miller Johnson, age 94, passed away peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Wednesday, August 29, 2018. Preceded in death by her husband, Harold Irwin Johnson, in 2016, their 70th anniversary was just four days before she passed.

She was also preceded in death by her two brothers and their spouses, Robert and Lena Miller, Virgil and Erma Miller; two sisters, Ruth and Cliff Jacobs, and Ada and Paul White. She is survived by her younger brother, Jack and Ginny Miller of Ohio.

She is also survived by her two daughters and their spouses, Lorelei and Ron VerLee, of Fort Wayne; Flossie and Russ Epley of Tokyo, Japan; her two sons, Tim and Jeannie Johnson, of Fort Wayne, and Nathaniel and Lisa Johnson of Ada, Michigan; ten grandchildren: Sean and Jaime VerLee; Vanessa VerLee and Jeremy Rourke; Christina and Chul Moreau; Joel and Christina Epley; Julie Johnson; Jared and Christina Johnson; Ben and Jessica Johnson; Caleb and Mariah Johnson; Hannah and Brent Sutterfield; and Abigail Johnson; and seven great-grandchildren.

Edna was born on Mother’s Day, May 11, 1924 in Briggsdale, Ohio, the fifth of six children to Harvey and Florence Miller. After high school, she landed a job working as a secretary for Congressman Fred Hartley on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. She graduated from Marion College (Indiana Wesleyan University) in 1948 with an art degree. She and Harold served as teachers in a two-room school house in Martin, Michigan from 1948 to 1950. In 1952, she and Harold and their toddler daughter, Lorelei, took a freighter ship to Tokyo, Japan where they served as missionaries with the Wesleyan Church for 34 years (1952 to 1986). The rest of their children were born in Japan.

She was a speaker, an editor, author of books and numerous magazine articles and wrote several songs. As a dedicated wordsmith she and Harold loved to play Scrabble but her favorite words were found in the pages of her Bible. Her influence will be remembered around the world.

Memorial Service: Saturday, September 8, 2018 11:00 am with visitation beginning at 10am at Saint Joseph United Methodist Church, 6004 Reed Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46835.

Preferred memorial checks should be written to Flossie Epley with IGM in the memo line. IGM is Immanuel General Mission