Mary Alice Johnson

Mary Alice (Kelley) Johnson died peacefully on June 17th, 2025, at the age of 93 in her daughter’s home under the loving care of “Team Johnson”, her incredible caregivers: Sandi, Marie, Barb and Michelle all of whom are true angels. Mary was the only child of Ed and Marie Kelley of Detroit. She suffered from asthma in her childhood and therefore gravitated to books, rather than sports. She was an excellent student and easily earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing. While standing in line to receive her degree, she was offered a teaching position in the school of nursing. She married Robert Henry Johnson, and they lived on her teaching salary while he completed medical school. She continued to teach until the demands of raising six independent-minded children required all her attention. Mary was a dedicated care provider and educator. Her healing hands provided a caring touch to thousands of people. In the 1980s, she helped launch a home care service with the Port Huron Visiting Nurses Association. After earning a master’s degree in public health and a PhD in education, she worked with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians throughout the 1990’s, earning and managing a multi-year grant for diabetes care. She often shared that it was an honor to provide health services to the local, indigenous people. She never lost her passion for education and taught graduate students in the school of nursing at the University of Michigan for over 15 years, long after most of her friends had retired. A committed Catholic, she served in the health ministry at St. Francis church in Traverse City volunteering at blood pressure clinics as well as leading the bereavement program and starting the “Pink Scarf Program.” As a three-time breast cancer survivor herself, she knew that a soft scarf could provide welcome comfort when undergoing chemotherapy, so she learned to knit, organized a group, and together they knitted and donated hundreds of scarves for cancer patients. That was her way. When she saw a need, she envisioned a solution and organized the funding and people to meet it. She loved to travel and actively sought out museums in every city she visited. She was a voracious reader and a closet artist which is why her version of retirement included volunteering at the public library and as a docent at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City. She had a brilliant mind and a strong will befitting the pure Irish lineage she proudly inherited. She did crossword puzzles in pen and was sharp to the end, including beating the contestants to the answer on Wheel of Fortune the night before her passing. Perhaps because she spent so much time in healthcare facilities herself, she did not want to pass in a hospital bed. And she got her wish, as on the last scheduled night in her own bed she went to sleep and straight to heaven. She is survived by her six children: daughter Cheri Webb (sons Arturo and Daniel); son Tim Johnson and wife Jan Frazee; son Kelley Johnson and wife Kelli (children Mackenzie, Mitchell and Sam); daughter Mary (Stuart) Stanfill (children Jessica, Wesley, Madison, and Erin); daughter Kathy Johnson and husband Greg Lashbrook; daughter Julie (Mark) Gronek (children Megan, Katie, and Quinn); and niece Mary Jo (Chris) Adragna (children Elizabeth, Florence and Alex). Mary is also survived by 3 great-grandchildren. Mary was proceeded in death by her parents, an uncle, aunt and two cousins. A Funeral Mass honoring Mary will take place at 11:00 a.m., with visitation starting at 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 1025 S. Union St., Traverse City, Michigan 49684. Fr. Michael Lingaur will officiate. A graveside service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, July 14, 2025 at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit. Memorial contributions may be made in Mary Johnson’s name to the American Red Cross or American Cancer Society . Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories with Mary’s family at her tribute page at www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com.

Mary Alice Johnson

February 21, 1932 - June 17, 2025