Mary Elizabeth Johnson

Mary Elizabeth Johnson, age 94, of Houston, Texas, passed away Sunday, August 23, 2015. She was born June 6, 1921 in Tyler, Texas, and was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth M. Johnson, who passed away in 2001.

Her family moved to the Houston area in the early twenties, where she grew up with three bothers on a small farm in southeast Harris County. She graduated from Milby High School in 1938, and obtained an R.N. degree from Jefferson Davis Hospital School of Nursing in 1941. She married her husband, Kenneth, in 1943, who served in U.S. Army Air Corp overseas in WWII. They lived together in the Houston Heights, where her husband grew up, before moving to Oak Forest in the early 1950s. They had three children, Ken Jr., Lynda, and Janet. Mary Elizabeth and Kenneth were very active in building Gethsemane Lutheran church along with friends who grew up in the Heights and were former members of Immanuel Lutheran church. Mary Elizabeth was drafted as the new church’s first pianist, and then organist. Playing the organ was new territory for Mary Elizabeth, but with the help of an old organ set up in the garage, and the patience of all the nearby neighbors, she mastered all the Lutheran hymns and liturgy, and served in this capacity for many years. Aside from this, raising three children, and taking care of the house, Mary Elizabeth returned to nursing, serving as a circulating nurse in the operating room at Memorial hospital in downtown Houston for a few years. She also became an accomplished seamstress and watercolorist. Her many, many hours at the sewing machine turned out many dozens of dresses for herself and daughters Lynda and Janet. After the children left home, more and more time was spent taking lessons in the art of water color and making original watercolor images, many of which reflected the landscapes and gardens of her past, as well as her own imagination.

Mary Elizabeth was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Pearl Stephenson, her husband Kenneth and her older brothers, Earvy and James. She is survived by, and leaves very saddened, her brother Thomas, her son Ken, his wife Carolyn, their children Ben and Aaron, her daughter Lynda and husband Clay Warren, their children, Abby and John, daughter Janet, her husband Joe Janes and their children, Kelly, Michael, and Stephen. In addition, she leaves behind six great grandchildren, Luke, Emma, Julia, Anna Grace, John Clay, and Hallie.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, August 26, 2015 from 5-8 pm at Heights Funeral Home. Services will be held the following morning at 11 am in the chapel at Heights Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Memorial Oaks Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer’s disease charity of your choice.