Fay Dorothy Clarke Johnson, 76, peacefully passed away on Monday, September 17, 2018 while at home in Ormond Beach, Florida. Born April 10, 1942, the daughter of Gersham Clarke and Gertrude Martin, in Kingston, Jamaica, Fay was everything to her brothers, sister, children and especially her husband – the Reverend Horace S. Johnson.
A proud graduate of Excelsior High School (Kingston) and Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), Fay embarked on a rich and rewarding 40-year nursing career. She met her husband while working at KPH. When presented with the opportunity to leave Jamaica for a promising nursing position in Montreal, Canada, Horace said if she goes, he goes too! Shortly after she arrived in Montreal, Horace followed and they were married on May 6, 1967. They relocated to Connecticut in 1971, where she continued her nursing career and earned an MA in Human Development & Gerontology from St. Joseph College. While pursuing required course work for the Master’s program, Fay recognized the historical value of stories told by surviving farm workers and she set out to document their oral histories about the first wave of farm workers brought to Connecticut from Jamaica during the war. The culmination of her work became “Soldiers of the Soil”, which was published in 1995. The book is archived at the Windsor Historical Society. Fay worked in the Critical Care areas at Mount Sinai Hospital before starting her career with the State of Connecticut - first, with the Department of Social Services and then with the Department of Public Health, where she worked until electing to take a voluntary early retirement in 2006.
Fay was passionate about the arts and was extremely active in her community. She loved to paint, write passages and poems, crochet, knit, sew, antiquing, listening to classical music and Adele, and observing all things related to nature. Many of her writings and paintings are sprinkled around her home and the homes of loved ones. She became a member of the West Indian Social Club in 1979, where she served for many years on the Education Committee, chaired the West Indian Pageant, and volunteered in various other capacities which earned her the Meritorious Service Award for outstanding contribution to the organization and the Distinguished Service Award at the Club’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Fay was also a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, National Gerontology Academic Honor and Professional Society of Sigma Phi Omega, Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., New England Public Health Association, and Windsor and Connecticut Historical Societies. She served on the Windsor Conservation Commission. She was an active member of St. Monica’s Episcopal Church (Hartford), Trinity Episcopal Church (Hartford) and St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Palm Coast, FL). Fay was also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Fay was preceded in death by her brothers Roy Grey and Trevor Clarke (Adella). She leaves behind to cherish her memory, her husband Horace, her daughter Jacqueline Michele, her son Horace Lancefield (Landra) and her grandchildren Davis Edward and Avery Fay. She is also survived by her siblings Hyacinth Brown, Desmond Clarke (Audeth) and Raynald Clarke (Linda) and her foster sisters, Marjorie Thompson and Patricia Surdine and a host of devoted nieces, nephews, cousins, godchildren, extended family and friends.
Services celebrating Fay’s life will begin with a wake on Friday, September 28th from 5 pm – 7 pm at Carmon Funeral Home, 807 Bloomfield Avenue, Windsor, CT 06095. The funeral service will be on Saturday, September 29th, 11 am at Trinity Episcopal Church, 120 Sigourney Street, Hartford, CT 06105. Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated will conduct the Ivy Beyond the Wall ceremony at 10:30 am, preceding the funeral service.
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