Name: Johnson, Mary Alice (Skinner)
Burial Date: 2013, 05/03
Age at Death: 91
Plot Location: 942 A
Notes: wife of Cecil Jacob

Died 04/24/2013 in Leawood, KS

STERLING – Mary Alice Johnson, 91, passed away April 24, 2013, in Leawood. She was born Aug. 18, 1921, in McCracken, to Samuel and Della VanWarmer Skinner. Having moved to Sterling as a young girl she attended the local grade school and high school. Later in life she received her Associates Degree from Hutchinson Community Junior College.

On Aug. 10, 1941, she married Cecil J. Johnson at the church parsonage in Nickerson. They began their life on a farm east of Sterling, where she resided until her recent stay at Grace Gardens Assisted Living Facility.

In addition to her duties as a farm wife, she gave piano lessons to many Rice and Reno County children. For sixty years she helped with all aspects of music at Midland Community Church, primarily playing the piano and organ for worship services.

Through the years she was a member of Sterling Music Club, Midland Lucky Clovers 4-H Club leader, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), organized the maiden chapter of Children of the American Revolution (CAR) in Sterling, volunteered at the Sterling Presbyterian Manor, and was active in Midland Church Women’s Fellowship. She belonged to countless bridge clubs in Sterling, Nickerson and Hutchinson.

Preceding her in death were her son, First Lieutenant Phil David Johnson in 1969;  her husband, Cecil J. Johnson, Nov. 2, 2002; and sister, Gail Wilkey, Feb. 7, 2010, all of Sterling.

Survivors include: daughters, Nancy and husband Mitch Borota, Leawood, Mary Jo and husband Doug Cress, Sterling, Colo.; grandchildren, J.J. and husband Jerry Schenkelberg, Omaha, Neb., Bret Borota and wife Sarah, Overland Park, Emily Cress, Kansas City; great-grandchildren, Stryker J. and Tori J. Schenkelberg, Omaha, Neb., and Brooks Borota, Overland Park; sister, Nancy Ann Oat, Norwich, Conn.; and several nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, May 3, 2013, at Midland United Church of Christ, rural Sterling, with burial to follow in Sterling Cemetery. Revs. Will Best and Judy Conners will be officiating. Visitation will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, 2013, with the family receiving friends from 5 to 7 p.m. at Birzer Funeral Home, Sterling. Memorials may be sent to the Midland United Church of Christ or your local hospice, in care of the funeral home.