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Harriet Hathaway Green Johnson
Harriet Hathaway Green Johnson, 98, passed away peacefully Aug. 18, 2024, surrounded by family and caregivers.
She was born May 26, 1926, in New York. She spent her childhood in Glen Head, Long Island, and enjoyed summers in Hackettstown, N.J., in a house that her father and grandfather helped build. She attended Northfield Mount Hermon for high school, Wilson College (Pennsylvania) for undergraduate studies, and Columbia University in New York for her masters in teaching. She was a lifelong teacher, both in and out of the classroom.
Harriet taught at The Grier School in Birmingham, Penn., from 1951 to 1953. In the summer of 1953 while at Harvard Summer School she met Burr Johnson. They married in March of 1954 at the Dingletown Church in Greenwich. They started married life in Port Chester, N.Y., then moved to The Choate School in Wallingford in 1957. Harriet taught English at Choate, and adult education for Wallingford.
She and Burr raised four children in her years there, and impacted the lives of numerous students. She also was director of Admissions at the Summer School Office before retiring in 1991. After retiring, she and Burr moved to Putnam where she was an active force in Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH). She and Burr enjoyed peaceful mornings on their back deck, tending to their immaculate gardens, exploring yard sales, and spoiling their cats. After years of declining hearing, she received a life-changing cochlear implant in 2004 so advocacy for hearing health was close to her heart. After Burr passed, she stayed in Putnam for two years then moved to The Hidenwood Assisted Living Community in Newport News, Vir., in September of 2013. She made new friends and lived there for the rest of her life. Her devoted personal caregivers kept her company, kept her safe, and looked after her every need in the final years of her life. Those who care for the elderly are truly angels on earth.
Left to carry on her memory are her children Burr Johnson Jr. (Kathleen Dahill) of Needham, Mass., David Johnson of Topanga, Calif., Rebecca Johnson Mahan (Sean Mahan) of Hampton, Vir., and Charles Johnson (Maria Andrade) of Everett, Mass.. “Meemah” also had seven grandchildren: Caroline and Katie Johnson, Emma and Laurel Selmo-Johnson, Connor and Kevin Mahan, and Xavier Andrade. She was predeceased by Arnold Burr Johnson, her husband of 57 years and her sister, Betty Jo Russo.
Donations: A no-kill animal shelter or animal rescue in your town to honor her lifelong love of animals.
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