Edna Loris Spann

We pause to reflect and pay special tribute to the memory of Edna Loris Spann, who, through her unselfish devotion and service to her family, was released from all “earthly limitations” and granted everlasting peace on Sunday, September 21st, 2025, at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.

She was born on March 3, 1939, to the late Reverend Henry “H.Y.” and Eliza “T.I.” Johnson in Valley Park, Mississippi. She spent her early years in Valley Park and graduated from Henry Weathers High School in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. From a young age, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, marking the beginning of a lifelong journey in the Christian faith.

After finishing high school, she decided to leave Mississippi and move to the West Coast, specifically Los Angeles County, along with her siblings, James Quincy Johnson and Billye Johnson. There, she met her future husband, Robert Burn Spann. They married in Los Angeles in 1969.

Her marriage of almost 56 years to Robert Burn Spann was blessed with four children: sons Jason Robert Spann and Ethan Henry Spann, and daughters Alexis Elizabeth Ruth Spann and Adrienne Mentoria Catherine Davis.

In her early 20s, she worked at Robinson’s Department Store. She spent several years working at Lockheed Martin, Rockwell International, and Northrop Grumman, where she eventually retired. She dedicated much of her free time to teaching and mentoring at local schools in the Antelope Valley, applying her teaching skills to after-school programs. She was an active member of Livingstone Cathedral of Worship, where she participated as a choir member and in vacation Bible school.

One of her most prized hobbies included painting and drawing, as she was an extraordinarily talented and creative artist.

In addition to leaving her spouse and four adult children, she leaves behind 12 grandchildren: Jason, Courtney, Alexa, Isaac, Imani, Chaunsey, Tate, Cameron, Zuri, Quawana, Jared, and Nia. She also leaves behind 12 great-grandchildren: Elijah, Brody, India, Asia, Izalea, Khori, Jayla, Paris, Jason III, Matthew, and Samuel, with one on the way.

She has been reunited with her siblings, Henry Horatio Johnson, James Johnson, Renard Johnson, and Willie Earl “Billye” Johnson, in heaven.