Alice Winnifred Johnston

Alice was born in Windsor, Ontario, but grew up in St. James, Manitoba. While in St. James she started attending the Presbyterian church, sang in the choir and began her life long love of music. She moved to Fort Erie, Ontario, with her husband George. Both having been children of newspaper publishers, it was only appropriate that George and Alice first met at a newspaper publisher convention.

The Johnston family moved to Tempe, Arizona, in the mid-1960s. Despite living more than half her life in the United States, Alice never forgot her Canadian roots. She was always smiling and pleasant and was often lovingly teased by her family that into her 90s she still had her Canadian accent. She worked for a number of years for the Tempe Elementary School District.

Alice embraced her new country and was an avid sports fan, cheering on the Diamondbacks, Suns, Cardinals and particularly the Arizona State University basketball team. She had season tickets with her daughter Holly for years.

She loved traveling, frequently returning to Canada where her brother and his family lived. She also visited Turkey while son-in-law Ron was stationed overseas with the U.S. Air Force, which allowed her to see daughter Heather and her family while they were stationed with Ron.

She loved visiting Maryland and Virginia to visit daughters Heather and Bonnie and their families as well as shorter trips to Tucson to see son Bruce and his family.

Alice is preceded in death by loving husband George, her parents and her brother and sister-in-law.

She is survived by son Bruce (Cindy) Johnston, grandchildren and great-grandchildren Lauren (Andy) Lowe, Sarah and Caitlin; Stephen (Kristina) Johnston, Luke and Tyler; daughter Bonnie (Dan) Gruber, grandsons Shawn Henry and Trenton DeTroy, and grandson and great-grandchildren Tyler DeTroy, Hunter and Mason Emersyn ;daughter Heather (Ronnie) Rahorn, granddaughters and great-grandchildren Jennifer (John) Kline, Logan, Stephanie (Randall) Zyvolovski, Caleb, Ian, Lucas, and Amrah; Amanda (Seth) Pack, Mackenzie and Colton; daughter Holly (Lance) Marble and grandchildren Jessica (Charles) Warden and Bryan (Jen) McDonald; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers donations are suggested to the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association or the American Lung Association.