Jo Ann Johnson's Obituary
Jo Ann Hawkes Johnson, born June 2, 1930, passed into glory peacefully surrounded by family on April 19, 2013. She was a loving Wife and Mother who dedicated her life to serving her lord and savior Jesus Christ, her family, her friends, and multitudes of people from all walks of life through years of charitable service including Les Passé, Tuesday Study Club and Allegro Circle of King’s Daughter. She was preceded in death by her husband Fletcher G. Johnson, her father Earl Hawkes, Sr., her mother Gussie Hawkes Haskins and brother Billy Hawkes. She leaves behind brother Earl Hawkes, Jr., her sister Donna Hawkes Schaeffer and lifelong friend Oleta Erby. She also leaves her four children: Mark Johnson, Eric (Lynne) Johnson, Steve (Kim) Johnson, and Katie Johnson (Jay) Wilson and eight grandchildren: Elizabeth Johnson, Fletcher Johnson, Emily Johnson, Jake Wilson, Hunter Johnson, Peyton Johnson, Virginia Wilson, and Fletcher Wilson. Jo Ann was the oldest of 4 children and as a child, her mother made most of her clothes to match the precious wardrobe of Shirley Temple. For her generation, Jo Ann was quite the Renaissance woman. She was the traveling representative for her sorority (Phi Mu); she owned a dress shop (Pandora Fashions) with a friend, and she was a Delta Airlines’ flight attendant back in the day when grace and “others-first” were the definition of “character”. She married Fletcher Gilbert Johnson at 29, at which time she began a family and was a wife and mother of 4 by age of 40. Fletcher was a Godly man who loved Jesus, worked hard as a traveling sales man, and parented with the utmost integrity and patience. Jo Ann was a faithful, adoring and kind wife for over 30 years and has been a strong, independent, generous widow for over 20 years. If you were to ask Jo Ann what she wanted her “Dash” to say-(that being the tiny line between birth and death) – it would be, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. All of Jo Ann’s children have asked Jesus into their hearts and all of her friends and acquaintances know exactly WHO she loves and serves. Jo Ann spent her life “living” out the gospel. No doubt if she got to pick the topic of conversation that she would choose to talk about “That Jesus”; however you could simply look at the light in her eyes and her “lineage of Grace” to know the overriding theme of her life (God’s Poem) and it is “Love”-Love God and Love others-the simplicity of the Gospel! Ephesians 2:10-“For we are God’s masterpiece. HE has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do good things HE planned for us long ago.” The Greek word for masterpiece is “Poema”-we are God’s poem. Only HE says when it is finished. I pray you see through GOD’S EYES the “masterpiece and poem” that Jo Ann Johnson is. Jo Ann was a blessing and a “living tapestry”. “May the God of Hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in HIM; so that hope overflows from you by the power of the Holy Spirit!” (Romans 15:13). The family will receive friends on Sunday April 21 from 2:00p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Memorial Park Funeral Home and in the foyer of the Second Presbyterian Church Sanctuary in Memphis, TN on Monday, April 22, from 12:30 to 2:00 PM with a Life Celebration service immediately following in the sanctuary. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Second Presbyterian Church World Mission. Memorial Park Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38119 (901)767-8930, “Behind the Stone Wall”.
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