Edna Eloise Eloise Johnson

Edna Eloise (Mahaffey) Johnson passed quietly from this life on February 16, 2016, at the age of 80. Her 11-year struggle with Alzheimer's Disease is at its end and she is finally free from its burden. She is preceded in death by her parents, Charles Mahaffey, Evie Lee Newsome and her loving husband, Gerald Lewis Johnson who passed of the same disease in 2010. She is survived by three loving daughters, Lisa (David) Manning, Kellye Goostree and Lesley (Dave) Yoder, six grandchildren, Whitney Burton and Wyatt Goostree, Emily and Meredith Manning, John and Emma Yoder. She was great-grandma to four, Kadence, Karys, Ari and Ellie-Kate. She also leaves a devoted sister, Charlene Wilson. She was a member of St. Edward Catholic Church and had great respect and admiration for her pastor, Father Joseph Breen. Mrs. Johnson was a service orientated person who spent a lifetime taking care of family and friends. She believed strongly in the principle of reaching out to others in their time of need. She was civic minded and served on many boards for East High School, including the awarding of the William Henry Oliver Scholarship, the restoration of the East High Alumni House and its placement on the historic register. She served as Vice-President and President of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association and hosted yearly picnic reunions at her home in Brentwood. She managed the sale of memorial bricks to fundraise and those bricks now have a prominent place on the historic East High grounds. She wrote for The Eagle, kept correspondence with her beloved class of 1953, for whom she served as class representative for 25 years. She had the monumental task of collecting due cards, recording payments, depositing the funds, paying the bills and giving financial reports to the Board. Mrs. Johnson managed the funds for countless reunions and made certain everyone knew of the latest happenings in the lives of their classmates. She was awarded Outstanding Alumni in 2004 in the same auditorium where she cheered in pep rallies and presented the flag in ROTC. Her place as an alto in the East Alumni Ensemble was a particular love of hers and she continued to sing on special occasions even after her diagnosis. Her love for the history of East High and its alumni was a true passion. She had a long and interesting career beginning as an administrative assistant at WLAC, Channel 5 in the 1960’s and Cornelia Fort Airport in East Nashville before serving as personnel director at St. Thomas Medical Group for 23 years before her retirement in June of 1997. Mrs. Johnson would count among her greatest accomplishments the gathering of a strong circle of friends. She made loyal and lasting connections with others and served them with Christian principles for as long as she could. Her once vibrant and enthusiastic personality has been silenced these past years. A favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace,” writes the final chapter to her life, well-lived. “I once was lost, but now I'm found; Twas blind, but now I see.” We rejoice that she has been renewed in Him and is reunited with the love of her life, Gerald. The family will receive visitors at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home on Friday, February 19th at noon with service to follow at one o’clock. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memory of Eloise Johnson to the Alzheimer's Association @ Alz.org. or to The William Henry Oliver Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 218043, Nashville, TN 37221