Alice Beverly Johnson

Alice Beverly Johnson

September 25, 1924 - January 10, 2015

Alice Beverly Johnson was born September 25, 1924, at home in Tuolumne City California to parents Joseph and Ethel Davis. Her older sister Barbara b. 1921, tragically died 2 years later and a second sister, JoAnn b. 1932, died in 2001. From childhood until early adulthood, Alice was called "Mary Alice". She attended local schools graduating from Summerville High School in 1942 with honors. She also excelled in gymnastics and played drums in the school band.

After high school she attended Humphreys Business College in Stockton and became secretary to a manager in the Army Service Forces Stockton Ordinance Depot. This vital operation provided spare parts to US forces in the Pacific Theater during WWII. When the war ended she was offered a civil service job in Washington DC but decided to return to Tuolumne and marry her high school sweetheart and newly discharged army veteran, George W Johnson II, son of Gladstone and Caroline Johnson and great nephew of prominent Lumberman and Banker George W Johnson I. They were married on December 31, 1945, and settled down in Tuolumne where their 3 children were born- Daniel b. 1946, Nancy b. 1949 and Karen b. 1950. In 1951, they bought a small cattle ranch in Valley Home and in 1954 the family moved to Fresno then Oakdale and, settled in Modesto in 1956. They eventually moved back to Oakdale in 1968. In the early 60's, Alice assisted her husband in starting and operating a successful lumber business for some 25 years.

Alice's ancestry reveals some unique elements and stories. A distant maternal ancestor appears to be Mary Brewster who "came over" on the Mayflower in 1620. Mary was one of five women to survive the first winter at Plymouth and she attended the first Thanksgiving. In 1852-53, Alice's great-great grandfather Dyer Brown, brought his young family in a covered wagon from Illinois to Amador and eventually to Tuolumne and San Joaquin Counties. Sadly, his wife died of smallpox on the way to California and is buried somewhere along that very long trail. Browns Flat in Tuolumne County, is named after this family. Alice's great-grandfather William Pratt was a gunsmith from Birmingham England and he invented and patented a broken shell extractor used by the US Calvary. At one point, he was also a scout for Kit Carson.

Alice's father was from Massachusetts and was of Portuguese decent. His grandfather was a whale boat captain out of New Bedford Massachusetts. During WWI, her father was in the US Army stationed at Corregidor, The Philippines and for a time in Vladivostok, Russia during the Russian Revolution. While in the army he became friends with fellow soldier Gene Day, a Miwok Native American from Tuolumne who invited him to visit the lumber community when he was discharged in June 1920, assuring him he could get work at West Side Lumber Co. And so shortly after this date, Joseph traveled to Tuolumne and when he got off the train and went to a nearby restaurant he met his future wife and Alice's mother to be, 17 year old waitress Ethel Pratt.

Alice loved gardening, reading, conversation and parties with family and friends and the company of her animal friends, especially her Cocker Spaniel, Sam.

Alice is pre-deceased by husband George W Johnson and grandson Joseph Ross. She is survived by children Daniel (Nilda) Johnson of Modesto, Nancy (Bob) Ross of Oakdale, Karen Johnson of Oakdale, and grandchildren Michael Ross of Seattle, Wash, Jarvis Johnson and Carrie Johnson both of Long Beach, Ca.

The family gratefully thanks the staff at Serenity Hills in Oakdale for their conscientious concern and excellent care for Alice during her year long stay there and for her husband George's more than four year stay.

Donations would be appreciated for any animal care charity.

A Rosary and Visitation will be held from 6:00-7:00 pm on Friday, January 16, at the Oakdale Memorial Chapel. There will be a Mass on Saturday, January 17, at 10:00 am at St Mary's Catholic Church in Oakdale. Burial at Lakewood Memorial Cemetery will follow.

Service
When: Friday, January 16, 2015 6:00pm
Location: Oakdale Memorial Chapel
Address: 830 West F Street
OAKDALE,CA 95361
Notes: Mass of Christian Burial 10:00AM Saturday, January 17, 2015 at St. Mary's Catholic Church 89 North Oak Avenue Oakdale, CA

Interment
When: Friday, January 16, 2015
Location: Lakewood Memorial Park
Address: 900 South Santa Fe Avenue
HUGHSON,CA 95326