Passing of Elizabeth Johnson

Memorial Service, Friday, Jan. 17, 7:00 pm

Celebration honoring the life of
Elizabeth Johnson
at the Bensen Memorial Chapel, Louisburg College (map)
on Friday, 17 January 2003 at 7:00 PM

The service is sponsored by the Franklin County
Branch of the American Association of University
Women. Donations in honor of Elizabeth will be
made to the AAUW Educational Foundation.

Elizabeth Johnson, dead at 93

[The following is excerpted from The Franklin Times.]

M. Elizabeth Johnson, a lifelong educator and editor and manager of The Franklin Times for over 20 years, died late Sunday [Jan. 5] at the age of 93. She was the daughter of the late Times publisher Asher F. and Sadie Thomas Johnson of Lousiburg.

Born on March 16, 1909, Johnson was a graduate of Louisburg College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned both her AB and master's degrees in mathematics.

She taught at high schools in Stem, Wadesboro and Thomasville as well as at Gold Sand and Louisburg High in Franklin County, winding up her teaching career at Louisburg College where she headed the Math Department for a number of years.

During the period from 1954 until 1968, she also served as treasurer of The Franklin Times, Inc., and as editor and manager of the newspaper.

She was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Louisburg where she served as a member of the vestry and as church treasurer for many years, and as a member of the church women's group and Altar Guild.

She was a member of the honorary teachers society Delta Kappa Gamma and, until recent years, was very active in the American Association of University Women.
...
Surviving are five sisters [including] Adelaide Johnson of Louisburg,... two brothers ..., 23 nieces and nephews and many great nieces and great nephews.
...
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisburg, NC 27549

Elizabeth Johnson and AAUW North Carolina

Elizabeth was appointed Editor of the AAUW NC newsletter in 1975. The bylaws permitted a person to serve only two biennial terms, but after she served four years, the NC Board of Directors changed the bylaws to allow the editor to continue indefinitely. Soon thereafter she and her surviving sister Adelaide began serving as Co-Editors. The newsletter received recognitions such as First Place and Honorable mention in the AAUW and they served until 1995.

In the Franklin County Branch and in Elizabeth's involvement in AAUW NC, she was a strong supporter of the Educational Foundation, equity for women and girls, public policy (then legislative policy) involving public education, economic self-sufficiency for women, and equality and individual rights. Some of her editorials in The Franklin Times showed thinking ahead of many citizens in the area.

Elizabeth made other contributions to AAUW NC and the Franklin County branch. With Adelaide, she often led state convention workshops on working with the media and policy statements for branches and NC. Elizabeth was president of the branch (then known as the Louisburg branch) from 1950 to 1952. She and Adelaide also worked to make constructive contributions to the community, such as tutoring illiterate citizens.

In honor of Elizabeth and Adelaide, AAUW established the L. Adelaide and M. Elizabeth Johnson Research and Projects Grant in 1992. It quickly reached stipend producing level and has been supporting AAUW Educational Foundation community action grants and career development grants ever since.

Donations in Elizabeth Johnson's memory may be made to the Foundation at https://www.aauw.org/7000/memgift.html with an optional designation to "1813 Johnson R&P Fund". For Adelaide's Johnson's address, please contact aauwnc@rtpnet.org.