June Prentiss Johnson's Obituary
June Prentiss Johnson passed away peacefully on Friday, December 23 in Marble Falls, Texas. June had just turned 95. She was born in a small farmhouse near Bertram, Texas on December 4, 1927 to Melvina (Vina) Barnett Johnson. June’s father, Edward Prentiss Johnson, had passed away seven months prior to the birth. Her mother, her maternal grandparents - Ethel Starr Barnett and James Sumner Barnett - and the entire community of Bertram contributed to her raising.
June graduated from Bertram High School in 1945 and Texas State College for Women in Denton (now Texas Woman’s University) in 1951. Instead of a traditional career, June lived a series of adventures. She taught elementary school in San Antonio from 1952 to 1960 and then in Longview from 1960 to 1964. She owned a bookstore for one year in 1964. From 1965 to 1972, she worked for the Longview News-Journal as a proofreader, reporter, features writer and copy editor. June owned and drove a dump truck from 1972 to 1974, and she worked a few months in 1974 as a long shore man in Providence, Rhode Island. After moving back to Longview in 1975, she bought several racehorses, one of which won an event in Colleyville, Texas. June “retired” in 1977 and in 1981, she moved into her beloved home on Choctaw Street in Longview where she lived for 40 years.
June was a member of New Journey Cumberland Presbyterian Church where she served faithfully for over five decades. She is preceded in death by her mother and father, Vina Barnett Johnson Beal and Edward Prentiss Johnson, sister Ethel Mae Beal Benedict, aunts Velma Barnett McKinley and Winnie Barnett Jackson, and cousins Jimmie Joe McKinley and Edward Martin Jackson. She is survived by her nephew Mike Benedict and his wife Mary of Kingsland, Texas, her cousin, Sherwin June Jackson Voss of San Antonio, great-niece Elizabeth Benedict Lauffenburger of Austin and great-niece Kathryn Benedict Santos of North Potomac, Maryland. Memorials may be made to Bethel University (Office of the President; 325 Cherry Lane; McKenzie, TN 38201) or New Journey Cumberland Presbyterian Church (PO Box 2349; Longview, TX 75606). Rader Funeral Home will conduct the graveside service at Alpine Cemetery in Longview on Friday, December 30 at 2:00 PM.
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