Lorena McDonald Johnson

COLUMBIA – Lorena Beckett McDonald Johnson, 86, died Thursday, February 9, 2012. The funeral will be at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 12, 2012, at Flemington Presbyterian Church, and offerings in her memory may be given to Flemington Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 341, Hinesville, GA 31310.

Born on January 24, 1926, she was the daughter of Daniel E. McDonald and Lorena “Nina” Beckett McDonald and the sister of the late Daniel E. McDonald, Jr. A descendant of the Scots Highlanders who founded Darien, Georgia, and the Congregationalists who founded Midway, Georgia, she was an authority on family lore.

Her father owned the general store in Eulonia, Georgia, and her mother was Postmistress of the Post Office inside the store; the family lived above the store. She attended school in Darien and worshiped at the Darien Presbyterian Church, where her father was an elder.

Mrs. Johnson was a graduate of the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville. She met her husband, Darrell T. Johnson of Windsor, South Carolina, while he was a student at the University of South Carolina on the GI Bill after World War II. After they married, she continued her family tradition by working at Hiller Hardware Store. As a mother, she participated in school parents’ organizations, church activities and the Cub Scouts. She later lavished love and attention on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her husband’s career in education and vocational counseling took the family from West Columbia, where they were founding members of Congaree Presbyterian Church, to Orangeburg and back to the St. Andrews area of Columbia, where they worshiped at Westminster Presbyterian Church. She resided at the Presbyterian Home of Columbia at the time of her death.

Survivors are: three sons, Darrell Thomas “Tom” Johnson Jr. and his wife Wanda of Jasper County, Daniel M. “Dan” Johnson and his wife Rosalie of Allendale and E. Allen Johnson of Florence; daughter, Lorena “Loree” Ratchford and her husband Banks of Irmo; four grandchildren, Darrell Johnson III and his wife Holly of Ridgeland, Warren Johnson and his wife Kristen of Jasper County, C. Banks Ratchford IV of Myrtle Beach, and Bryce Ratchford of Irmo; five great-grandchildren, Darrell “DJ” Johnson IV, Bailey Johnson, Lawson Johnson, Ethan Johnson, and Ginger Rose Johnson, all of Ridgeland.

Arrangements have been made by Carter Funeral Home, Oglethorpe Chapel of Hinesville, GA and Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel of Lexington, SC.