Johnson celebrates 100th birthday

Family, friends and residents join in the celebration BY PAM STEVENS | EDITOR Becoming a centurion means joining an elite group and Lake Stevens resident, Thelma Johnson became a member of that group on Jan. 7 as she celebrated with a huge crowd of loved ones at Ashley Pointe.
Johnson’s hundred-year history is filled with a rich childhood and loving memories, memories which friends and family shared with her on Wednesday.

Johnson was much loved and is known for her big heart.

“We all love Thelma,” Debbie Cooper, Activity Director at Ashley Pointe said. “She’s a fantastic person, we just think a lot of her here.”
Jon and Sheryl Thompson, Johnson’s nephew and niece, are Lake Stevens residents and wanted her to be able to live close to them.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Sheryl said. “She’s very giving and has a very big heart. She’s a great addition to our family.”

Love flows from her endlessly and it seems that everyone who comes into contact with Thelma ends up grateful for the experience.

“She hurt herself a few months ago and it was not the same around here,” Annabel Ryerson, RN and Ashley Pointe Administrator said. “She is so full of love, she is an inspiration to everyone here.”

Johnson has a lot of spunk for a hundred old woman, even for a woman of a younger age and was thrilled by the attention she was getting.
“One hundred years and she still knows what’s going on around her,” friend Jennie Stokes said.

“She is so positive. Her memory Is excellent,” Carol Hoskin, one of Johnson’s many friends said. “If my day is not going well, all I have to do is come and visit Thelma and she brightens my day!”

The party was hosted by Ashley Pointe, where a full course lunch was served and guests enjoyed the lively entertainment.
As partygoers sang Happy Birthday to Thelma, she blew out the candles on one of two birthday cakes, after which Johnson stood up and thanked everyone for coming and just before she excitedly opened all of her gifts and cards.
Johnson was born and raised in Minnesota where she completed nursing school and became an RN. She took her first nursing job at the Cook County General Hospital in Chicago where she married her college sweetheart who had become a Pediatrician.
Her husband died of pneumonia when she was only 23 years old, leaving her a widow.
She later married a Detroit policeman and was married for 38 years.
After his retirement they moved to Chico, Calif. Where Thelma became a school nurse.
After studying many religions, she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in April 1999 when she was 90 years old.
Johnson has one nephew, two great nieces and one great nephew and only two weeks before her birthday her great-great nephew was born.

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