Ashland — Known not for power or fortune but for her love of music and teaching, Thelma Johnson opened the doors of learning to more than a generation of Ashlanders.
She was also the last surviving faculty member of the segregation-era Booker T. Washington School.
Johnson, 99, died Saturday. The funeral for the retired music, English and piano teacher was Thursday at New Hope Baptist Church.
Many of those at the service were former students, either from her years at Booker T. Washington, Putnam Junior High School or her private practice teaching piano.
Johnson was a role model and a refuge of comfort for many who knew her. “She was like a mother to me,” said her niece by marriage, Betty Brown. “She was a caring lady with a sweet personality who never said no. I think that’s why people loved her so.”
“She was a mother to many people and she was loved by many people,” the Rev. Henry L. Mosley said in his eulogy.
While her former students at Booker T. Washington remember her with perhaps the most devotion, Johnson is most noted for her musical talent and skill at teaching piano. She received her master of arts in music education at Northwestern University in 1941 and taught music and English until her retirement, then opened a piano studio on Carter Avenue.
She was a member of the Kentucky Music Teachers Association, which gave her an Award of Distinction in 1977; her alma mater Kentucky State University awarded her a doctor of humane letters degree in 1980. A photo of Johnson receiving the degree was prominently displayed at the church.
“She had a great impact on me,” said former student Stella Whitlow. “She was the last Booker T. Washington teacher.”
As a teacher and mentor, “she was a person who talked the talk and walked the walk,” Whitlow said.
Another former student remembered Johnson as a rigorous teacher — but her strictness was grounded in her hopes for children. “She wanted you to learn, and not just halfway,” said Libby Brown.
“There won’t be anyone able to fill her shoes anytime soon,” Brown said.
Johnson also set an example for young people, she said. “We looked up to her for how a young Christian should behave ... She walked the Christian walk.”
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.
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