Mary Josephine Johnson's Obituary
San Bernardino — Mary Josephine Johnson, 91, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, May 1, 2021, at Saint Bernardine’s Medical Center. She was surrounded by love and went home in peace. We will miss her.
Mary Josephine was known by her friends and family as Mary Jo, Josephine or Jo but never Mary.
Jo was born December 13, 1929, in Huntsville, TX, to Charlie and Millie Johnson. She was one of 13 children and the last of them to go home to be with the Lord. She graduated from high school in 1947. She met and then married Samuel Howard Johnson May 13, 1948, and took on the role of mother and supportive homemaker until they moved to San Bernardino, CA, in 1959. From their union, Jo gave birth to Harold Earl Johnson (deceased), Anita Faye Napier (Cordell), Charles Milton Johnson, Karen Elaine Johnson, and Sandra Louise Johnson.
After divorcing Samuel, Jo sought and found employment as a cook, waitress, janitor, and shampoo girl; and then San Bernardino County General Hospital hired her as a custodian. She remained employed with them until her retirement on February 27, 1988.
Jo taught her sons and daughters to sew, quilt, cook, clean, lay linoleum and tile, fix the plumbing, and make minor repairs on our home. She would cook and provide meals to the elderly in her neighborhood and would take her grandkids with her to help distribute the food. She loved to work jigsaw puzzle pieces and play Scrabble. She also kept a garden and chickens until her health prevented her doing so.
Jo had a deep faith in God and attended St. Paul AME Church in San Bernardino regularly. She also lived by two mottos: “Anything a man can do, I can do better.” and “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
Jo is survived by four of her children listed above; her grandchildren: Paul Howard Cooper (Claudine), Mikael Kwame NKrumah Cooper, Ayrel NaChayle Charonn Evans, Erik Glen Selden (Elizabeth), Nathan James Evans, and Jarrett Royce Napier; her great grandchildren: Faye Marie Cooper, Nora Grace Cooper, Joseph Mekhi Cooper, Denzel Santiago O’Quin, Lea Josephine Evans, Anita Belen Evans, and Grant Glen Selden, and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
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