Shirley Carvajal passed away on Wednesday, December 27, 2023 in her home in South Gate, California at the age of 68, with loved ones by her side. She fought a tough battle against peritoneal cancer. She was born on December 10, 1955 in Lomita, California to Cecil Johnson and Fannie Mae Johnson (Harjo). She is Muscogee Creek from the Alligator Clan. She graduated from Dominguez HIgh School in Compton, California, in 1973. She worked at the American Indian Center in Compton, California for awhile. She then attended Job Corps in Astoria, Oregon, earning a business certificate.
She gained a position in Word Processing at Bank of America, eventually gaining a position as a Legal Secretary. She remained in that field until her retirement at the end of 2020. She seemed to enjoy sewing, something she learned in high school in Home Economics. She joined a quilting class in Norwalk, CA around 2000 and continued attending quilting classes in Pico Rivera, CA until the Pandemic hit in 2020. Throughout her journey, she made many friendships. She was a no nonsense kind of woman, but she also liked a good laugh! She loved her family, especially her grandkids. She would try to travel to Oklahoma to visit her family out there as often as she could. Her time was cut short, but she will live on through us and our memories of her.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Cecil Johnson and Fannie Mae Johnson (Harjo); Her brothers, Don Johnson and Yuna Johnson; and her sisters, Marri Sue Johnson and Angela Johnson.
Shirley leaves behind her husband, Karl Carvajal; her sisters, Esther Johnson, Cecilia Johnson and Louise Johnson; her brother, Benjamin Johnson; her daughters, Roxanne Carvajal and her husband Manuel Marquez, and Christina Carvajal and her husband Fred Hernandez; Her grandsons, Christopher Marquez, Miles Marquez, Derek Marquez, Manuel Marquez and Freddy Hernandez; her granddaughter, Nori Hernández; and many nieces, nephews and other family members.
Shirley will be cremated and then later be taken to Oklahoma to have her ashes spread with her family in Oklahoma.
