Bettie D. Johnson

Published 12:00 am Friday, July 13, 2012

Aug. 8, 1919 – July 9, 2012

FAYETTE — Services for Mother Bettie D. Johnson, 92, of Fayette, who died Monday, July 9, 2012, at her residence, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rose Hill Baptist Church No. 2 with the Rev. James Beverly officiating.

Burial will follow at the church cemetery under the direction of Spencer Funeral Home in Fayette.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today and from noon until service time Saturday, both at the church.

Mrs. Johnson was born Aug. 8, 1919, in Jefferson County, the daughter of Bismarck Brown and Verine Hamberlin Brown. She was united in holy matrimony in 1944, to Mr. Albert Z. Johnson Sr., who was killed while serving in the U.S. Army.

Mother Johnson received an associate degree from Copiah-Lincoln Community College and furthered her studies at Alcorn State University and the University of Southern Mississippi.

Mother Johnson confessed Jesus Christ as her personal savior at a very early age. She was a faithful member and mother of Rose Hill Baptist Church No. 2. She was one of the founding members of the Fayette Garden Club and served as the Most Ancient Matron of the Fayette Court No. 202 of the Heroines of Jericho for more than 20 years.

Mother Johnson’s career included being an entrepreneur and educator. She touched the lives of a number of students while working as a teacher’s assistant in the Jefferson County schools, a job she dearly loved.

Mother Johnson was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; maternal grandparents, William and Daisy White Hamberlin; and paternal grandparents, Percy and Eula Brown.

Survivors include six children, Verine Johnson-Wright, Joseph A. Johnson, Samuel B. Johnson, Albert Z. Johnson Jr. and wife, Vanessa, all of Fayette, Alonzo B. Johnson and Artherine Prieston and husband, Stanley, all of Dallas; one sister, Delores Brown of Vicksburg; 19 grandchildren; one special granddaughter that she raised, Jacqueline Jackson and husband, Ricky, of Dallas; 19 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and a number of nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives and friends.