Jean T. Johnson

Jean Taylor was born on November 17, 1926, in Richmond Virginia to Broadus Johns Taylor and Percy Atwell Taylor. She grew up in Washington DC, never suspecting that the policeman on the beat in her neighborhood would one day be her father-in-law! Voted Most Likely to Succeed in her senior class at McKinley Tech High School, she went on to Washington School for Secretaries, then accepted a position at Southern Railway, where she met her future husband, Haywood Johnson Jr. They were married at Bethany Baptist Church in Washington DC on May 17, 1952. Raising their two daughters, Janice and Gail in Falls Church, Jean was active at Boulevard Baptist Church. After moving to Springfield, she was an active member at Westwood Baptist. She also held the position of Church Secretary/Administrative Assistant at Parkwood Baptist for 25 years until her retirement in 1991. Although she was highly qualified for a job in business, she considered working at the church her way of giving back to God. She was known for her patience and skill, typing so fast that she would jam the IBM Selectric typewriter that she loved. When the church introduced computers, she refused to work with them and told the church to hire someone else to run them. They did. Eventually she learned to use the computer and loved having something fast enough to keep up with her typing. She was also a master of shorthand, making the notes she took over the phone impossible for anyone else to read both at work and at home. Jean never missed a concert or play that her daughters were in, always volunteered to drive or chaperone, and put up with countless slumber parties over the years. When both daughters were grown and married, Jean and Haywood built their dream house in the Shenandoah Valley. They loved the large rooms and mountain views. Much to their surprise, many of their old friends from Northern Virginia had also moved there, and they had no trouble making new friends as well. They became active members of First Baptist Church, Woodstock. They joined several square dance and camping clubs and spent many weekends camping in their 42-foot trailer with other dancers. After the death of her husband, Jean elected to remain in the home and take care of her own mother, Broadus Taylor, until her death in 2003 at the age of 99. Jean enjoyed traveling to Florida and Texas to visit grandchildren and was frequently found at the local fire stations for an oyster dinner with her friend Barbara. She loved children and animals and always made time for them. Her last year was spent in a private senior home in Houston, where she passed peacefully in her sleep at age 97 with both of her daughters by her side. Jean was welcomed to heaven by her parents, Mary Broadus Johns Taylor and Percy Atwell Taylor, her husband Haywood C Johnson Jr, and her sister Iris Shepherd. She is survived by her two daughters, Janice Johnson Clark of Alexandria, VA and Gail Johnson Dunn of Houston, TX, Grandchildren Gary Dunn (Lisa), Sandi Dunn, Michelle Dunn, Michelle Clark Bowe (Thomas), Carol Jean Clark, Thomas Haywood Clark (Amanda), Anthony C Clark Jr. (Mary) and Justin Robert Clark, and great grandchildren Whitman Clark, Stella Clark, Lillian Bowe, Madelyn Bowe, Wyatt Clark, Reese Clark, Hunter Dunn, and Chase Dunn. The family asks that donations in her memory be made to the American Cancer Society and the American Humane Society, two charities that she always supported.

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Jean T. Johnson

November 17, 1926 - December 4, 2023