Margaret Johnson
Margaret “Peg” (Howard) Johnson, 79, of Maryville, Tenn., passed away on May 5. It was her 79th birthday. Peg had battled Parkinson’s disease for many years with great humor and dignity, and she continued to make jokes and keep everyone’s good spirits intact until the very end of her life.
Peg grew up in Butler with her parents, Edward and Margaret Howard; her older brother George; her twin brother Boyd; and her younger brother Chal. In 1958, she received her undergraduate degree in art history from Goucher College in Baltimore. She then continued her education, receiving a master’s degree from the Boston School of Occupational Therapy, now part of Tufts University.
On the Ides of March in 1959, Peg was sent by her friends on a blind date, whereupon she met the love of her life, Robert “Joe” Johnson. Joe was at MIT studying for a year with the Air Force. Joe was shipped off to Okinawa until January 1961, but after his return, he married his beautiful Peg on June 17, 1961.
The newlyweds first lived at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, and then went to Pasadena, Calif., where Peg worked in a hospital while Joe pursued his Master’s degree at Cal Tech. The couple then returned east to Atlanta, where Joe finished his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech. The couple was so happy to start their family, and while Joe taught at Georgia Tech, Peg cherished her time raising her two young boys, David and Blake.
Beyond her family, Peg had an extraordinary number of accomplishments in her life. Although she already had two degrees, once the family moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1977, Peg decided to pursue another master’s degree. After getting her degree in community counseling from the University of Tennessee, Peg worked tirelessly as a counselor with Hospice, an organization she was very passionate about. Then, in 1992, Peg took up the challenging fight to protect vulnerable women by accepting a position as director of the first Shelter for Battered Women & Their Children in Chattanooga. This was her most rewarding job, and she did it with both incredible dedication as well as deep compassion for her clients. In addition to her paid work, Peg was also an extraordinarily talented artist, working both in pencil and acrylics, and she left behind a fantastic collection of artwork for others to enjoy in perpetuity.
Ultimately, it must be said that Peg considered her greatest accomplishment to be her family. In addition to her husband and two sons, she loved dearly, Peg also had four extraordinary grandchildren, Claire, Zach, Jared and Tess, who were the lights in her life. She never tired of listening to their stories, whether they were about Irish dancing, ethical analyses, Boy Scouts or even mathematics. “Mama Peg” was an amazing grandma, and she will be missed terribly by her grandchildren.
Peg leaves behind her beloved husband of 54 years, Joe Johnson; her two adoring sons and daughters-in-law, David and Stephanie Johnson of Knoxville, Tenn., and Blake and Jenny Johnson of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and her most loving grandchildren. She also leaves behind a brother, Chal Howard of New Cumberland, Pa.; her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Paula and Herb Camp of Colorado; and a collection of cousins, nieces and nephews whom she loved. She is gone from us now, but never forgotten.
JOHNSON — The body of Margaret “Peg” (Howard) Johnson, who died Tuesday, May 5, 2015, was donated to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for research into Parkinson’s disease.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the PJ Parkinson’s Support Group of Blount County, care of TN Bank, 1311 West Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37801.
