Charlotte Johnson

Dec 22, 1929 -

Apr 4, 2023

Longtime Alaska resident Charlotte Johnson passed away on April 4, 2023, at Baxter Senior Living in Anchorage, Alaska. As she requested, no services will be held.

Charlotte was born in Madelia, Minn., on Dec. 22, 1929, to Amanda (Rudie) and Leonard Johnson. Her mother died when Charlotte was 6 years old. A sister, brother and she were raised by her dad and his sister on a farm near Lake Crystal, Minn. She attended grades 1-8 in a one-room country schoolhouse, graduated from Lake Crystal High School in 1947, and from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., in 1951 with a B.A. degree.

After teaching three years in Winthrop, Minn., she and a friend drove up the Alaska Highway to Anchorage to teach at the new high school in Spenard. This was intended to be only a one-year adventure, but for Charlotte, it became a lifetime of teaching and living in Anchorage.

She did venture "outside" several times: once for a year in Boulder, Colo., to get her master's degree; another to teach for a year on the Itazuki Air Base in Japan for the Department of Defense; and another year in East Brunswick, N.J., to teach there while taking night classes at Rutgers University.

Charlotte retired from the Anchorage School District in 1977, having taught math and science at various junior high schools, ending with Bartlett High School.

After retirement, she entered the real estate field, built a rental cabin at Alyeska and oversaw her rental property there and other properties in Anchorage for many years.

She traveled in Europe with a tour group in 1956, and had numerous extensive driving adventures in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. She enjoyed camping, fishing, skiing and continued playing tennis into her 80s.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church for many years, served as deacon, played in the hand bell choir and helped with the ESL program there. She was most recently a member of the Redeemer United Reformed Church.

Charlotte is survived by her sister, Ruby Sherwood of Littleton, Colo.; along with eight children, spouses and offspring; as well as brother, Lee Johnson and wife Audrey of Sartell, Minn., and their four children, spouses and offspring.

Charlotte was preceded in death by her parents, Leonard and Amanda Johnson; and brother-in-law, Clifford Sherwood, M.D.

Her ashes will be placed in her parent's grave site in the Lake Crystal Cemetery in Minnesota.