Mary Jo Johnson is being remembered for her heat presence and having a giant smile on her face.
The retired visible arts trainer spent her whole profession, spanning three many years, at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute the place her former college students and colleagues say she at all times stored an open door and ensured everybody felt welcome.
“She was by far the perfect trainer I ever had,” stated Amanda Vandenburg, who took Johnson’s artwork class all through highschool and did a co-op artwork educating placement along with her in 2001.
“She had such motherly vitality and was very form. I really feel like she put rather a lot into her college students simply because she needed everybody to succeed at the whole lot they did.”
Johnson, 73, and her husband Richard, 78, have been killed in a crash on Oct. 19 after their SUV and a pickup truck collided on a rural highway in Norfolk County.
Johnson’s former college students say she at all times confirmed compassion towards their conditions and was a constructive affect of their lives. (Submitted by Matt Johnson)
Ontario Provincial Police responded to the crash on Cockshutt Highway and Concession 3 Townsend north of Simcoe shortly earlier than 10 a.m., that morning. The Simcoe couple suffered severe life-threatening accidents and died on scene, stated West Area Sgt. Ed Sanchuk in a video posted on social media, calling the crash “devastating.”
The pickup truck’s driver remained on scene and sustained minor accidents, Sanchuk stated.
Vandenburg stated Johnson’s compassionate perspective towards college students had a really constructive affect, including the pair reconnected ten years in the past and frequently stored in contact by means of electronic mail.
“She was greater than only a trainer, she had a life influence,” Vandenburg stated. “There was a time the place I used to be hanging with the mistaken folks and he or she had heart-to-heart conversations about what she was noticing, however in a method that by no means shamed or judged.”
The benchmark of an ideal couple
Matt Johnson described his dad Richard and step-mother Mary Jo’s relationship as “the right match.” He and his sister Lori met Mary Jo, 35 years in the past as youngsters. Though the couple’s romantic relationship did not bloom till the 2000s, the siblings adored her, he stated.
“Once you have a look at {couples} by means of your lifetime and you concentrate on excellent matches, their relationship was simply that,” he stated. “They’re the benchmark couple that everyone aspired to be.”
Johnson’s stepson Matt Johnson says he adored her and described his dad and mom’ relationship as the right match. (Submitted by Matt Johnson)
Matt stated he is not fully positive the place his dad and mom have been going when the crash occurred however believes they have been probably travelling to Ancaster for some buying.
Within the days following his dad and mom’ dying, Matt stated the outpouring of neighborhood help has been overwhelming and he is comforted to understand how many individuals have been touched by their influence.
Richard spent his life working at a trucking firm referred to as Navistar in his hometown of Chatham, and after his retirement, labored a part-time job at a males’s clothes retailer to maintain busy, his son stated.
Johnson began educating in 1974 and ultimately turned head of the college’s arts division, till her retirement in 2005. When Toni Wilson joined the college as an English trainer in 1978, she had no concept she’d discover a lifelong buddy in Johnson.
Johnson spent her whole 31-year lengthy profession educating at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute. She ultimately turned head of the college’s arts division, a task she stored till her retirement in 2005. (Ferris Funeral Dwelling)
“She had actually good relationships along with her college students,” stated Wilson, a buddy of Johnson for practically 45 years. “She was the kind of trainer who liked being fingers on with college students within the classroom and actually needed to make an influence.”
One other former scholar, Alicia McElroy stated Johnson was instrumental in her resolution to pursue a visible arts degree on the College of Toronto.
“She at all times had quite a lot of endurance and the utmost compassion for me,” McElroy stated. “She was at all times a secure house and when you’ve a trainer that went above and past for you each time, it actually stands out.”
The late couple’s household will host a celebration of life this afternoon from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the Ferris Funeral Dwelling in Simcoe.
