Marilyn Hendrickson Johnson

1927-2024

Marilyn was born in Los Angeles on December 26, 1927 to Albert and Clara (Johnson) Olson. She joined her older brother Jim and sister Aleen. She grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Dorsey High School in 1946.

The Olson family was very active in LA First Covenant Church. She met Harry Hendrickson while attending the church and began dating after he returned from serving in the Navy during WWII, he was a crew member of the USS Enterprise. They became engaged and were married on September 12th 1947. They were part of the young couple’s group with good friends Ralph and Barbara Johnson. Each couple’s eldest child, Carolyn & Dennis, grew up together while attending the church, where they were in Sunday school together from cradle roll through high school.

Harry and Marilyn lived in the west LA, Culver City area. They had two children, Carolyn and David. Marilyn, Harry and Dave moved to Morro Bay in 1974 joining Carolyn and John who had moved to Morro Bay already. Harry worked for the CHP as a mechanic until his retirement. Marilyn took care of things at home. She had worked at various jobs prior to their move. She had been a Sunday school teacher, a school cafeteria worker, a nurse’s aide and a pt aide. She lived in Morro Bay for 25 years before moving to Santa Barbara in 1999. She was a member of Calvary Baptist Church while in Morro Bay and sang in the church choir with all of her family. She was a gracious hostess and loved to have family and friends stop by for a visit. She was always ready to help anyone, anywhere she saw a need. She was a dedicated prayer warrior and delighted in sharing her love for the Lord.

While on a trip east in 1992 Harry died. They were married for 45 years and had many enjoyable trips around the US and were able to visit Sweden. She was reacquainted with an old friend; Ralph Johnson and they married in 1996 blending their two families. They decided to move to Samarkand, in Santa Barbara, in 1999 and joined Montecito Covenant Church. They were very active at Samarkand and had many, many friends. They did a lot of traveling before Ralph died in 2016, they were married for 20 years. Marilyn loved her Samarkand family and all the fun times, meeting friends by the fountain in the afternoon, before dinner with friends at the Oaks, puzzles in the library and bingo at Brandel. She had many hobbies; sewing, crocheting, oil painting and collecting Swedish items. She was a wonderful mom, mother-in-law, grandma and great grandma. She was very interested in everything her family was doing and stayed in touch through Facetime and visits from family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Harry, second husband Ralph, son Dave and granddaughter Sharon. She is survived by daughter Carolyn (John) Heitzenrater, daughter-in-law Kathy Hendrickson, grandsons Jeff (Tammy) Heitzenrater, Craig (Cathy) Heitzenrater, and Eric Hendrickson. She is survived by her great grandchildren and stepsons Dennis and Chuck Johnson and their families.