Dorothy Ella Johnston 1922-2025

Nobody is immortal. Not even my aunt Dorothy, who died on April 1st, just a few months shy of her 103rd birthday. She was laid to rest in Temple, Texas yesterday. Her obituary was carried by the Temple Daily Telegram and can also be accessed on her funeral home's website (along with a bunch of pictures of her over the years if you click on "gallery"). As is my tradition, I am also posting it here (especially because I wrote it!):

Dorothy Ella Johnston, of Temple, departed this earth on April 1, 2025.

Dorothy was born in Osage County, Oklahoma on July 22, 1922 and graduated from Bowlegs High School in Bowlegs, Oklahoma in 1940. In 1941, she entered the Sisters of St. Francis in Maryville, Missouri. She graduated from the St. Anthony School of Nursing in Oklahoma City as a Registered Nurse in 1948, Benedictine Heights College in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in 1956, and St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri with a Masters of Education in 1962. She spent most of her career as a medical records administrator but also served as principal of Mount Alverno Academy in Maryville, Missouri in the 1960s. Dorothy left the Sisters of St. Francis in 1968.

In 1973 she settled in Temple, where she would spend the rest of her life. She worked in the medical information section of the Olin E. Teague Veterans Administration Hospital until 1984 and then taught in the Medical Records Technology Program at Temple College until 1987. Whether as a nurse, a teacher, an administrator, or an aunt, and in hospitals, schools, convents and so many other places, Dorothy touched an uncountable number of lives during her 102 years on this planet.

Dorothy will be remembered for her independence, her wisdom, and her enthusiasm for imparting it upon others (whether they wanted it or not!). Dorothy did not realize she was a dog person until later in life, when she met her two best friends, Penny and Daisy.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Henry William Johnston and Ruth Ella Mitchem Johnston, and her brothers James Orrin Johnston and Glen Edwin Johnston. She is survived by her brother Joseph Henry Johnston of Austin, sister Rosemary Teresa Johnston Gray of Houston, sister-in-law Carolyn Johnston of Beaverton, Oregon, and innumerable cousins, nieces, and nephews living all over the world. She also leaves behind many friends and neighbors who provided her support, comfort and companionship.

A mass funeral will be held at 11 am on Monday, April 14, 2025 at St. Luke’s Catholic Church, where she was a parishioner for over half a century. A rosary will precede the service at 10:30, and her ashes will be interred in St. Luke’s columbarium afterwards. In lieu of flowers, her family requests donations be made to Feed My Sheep (116 W Avenue G, Temple, TX 76504).

And now, time for some pictures... 

Dorothy and a very young me, March 1974

Dorothy, along with my grandmother, moved to Temple the same year I was born. Given that Temple is only about three hours away from Houston, I saw her on a regular basis. Most holidays and even some vacations were spent with her and she was always there for the big events of my life, such as graduations and my first wedding. It felt weird being in Temple for her funeral yesterday, knowing that it might have been the last time I would ever be there. 

Dorothy and me in Tucson, Arizona, where we were attending my cousin's wedding, June 2004

Dorothy, having no spouse or children of her own, definitely lived an independent life. I will never forget how she, in her mid-60s, decided to travel down to Ecuador by herself to visit us (and take an excursion into the Amazonian rainforest with us!) when we were spending the summer there. 

The five of us in a hotel in the Ecuadorian rainforest, July 1988

After my grandmother passed away in 2000, Dorothy lived alone. When my uncle and her younger brother Glen, who also lived in Temple, died back in 2007, I wrote that Dorothy's "days of living independently are probably numbered." She proved me wrong by herself for another fifteen years, only having to move out of her house a few months short of her 100th birthday when her eyesight had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer get around her own home. She spent the next two-and-a-half years in assisted living and was only transferred to full nursing care a couple of months ago, when her body finally gave out. Her mental abilities never diminished.

Family, friends and neighbors gathered for Dorothy's 95th birthday, July 2017

This does not mean that Dorothy lived in isolation. She had a number of friends and neighbors who checked on her on a regular basis when she lived in her house, providing her with much-needed support and conversation. Those same people continued to visit her in assisted living. She also had the companionship of Daisy, her dog. Sometimes I'd even make the trip to check in on her.  

Corinne and myself visiting Dorothy and Daisy, June 2021

As for "her wisdom, and her enthusiasm for imparting it upon others (whether they wanted it or not!)," that's a gentle way of saying that Dorothy had very strong opinions and didn't hesitate to share them with others. Sometimes it was humorous, but at other times it could be awkward. She especially loved to nag my brother and me, imploring us to be more obedient to our parents or do better in school. I know it was because she had our best interests in mind, but when we were teenagers it got to the point that we started referring to the street in Temple on which she lived, Lancelot Lane, as "Nag-a-lot Street."

Dorothy spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but her tastes were fairly basic.

Dorothy Johnston led a long and remarkable life, so much of it spent in service of others. She will definitely be missed. After being on this earth for almost 103 years, it will definitely feel strange for Dorothy not to be here anymore.

Dorothy and me shortly after her transfer to a nursing facility, January 2025. This is the last picture of us together.