Carolyn Johnson

Dec 19, 1948 -

Dec 9, 2024

Carolyn Louise (Runyan) Johnson, 75, passed away on Dec. 9, 2024, in Palmer, Alaska. Carolyn was born on Dec. 19, 1948, in Sterling, Kan., to Josephine Blanche "Jo B" (Brooks) Runyan and Loyd Eugene Runyan. The eldest of three sisters, she grew up as a farm girl in Kansas, first on a farm west of Chase, and then on her great-grandparent's farm southwest of Nickerson. She was lucky enough to know both sets of grandparents as well as her grandfather Brooks' living uncles and aunts and a number of her grandparents' siblings.

Having graduated from Nickerson Rural High School in 1967, Carolyn received a Bachelor of Science degree from McPherson College in 1972, and, in 1973, a degree in medical technology from St. Francis School of Medical Technology. In 1991, she earned her Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

After passing her national boards, Carolyn's first job was at the Hutchinson Medical Clinic in Hutchinson, Kan. In 1974, she joined the Indian Health Service (IHS), where her first posting was to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Hospital in Pine Ridge, S.D. She transferred to IHS Tanana Hospital in Tanana, Alaska, in 1975, then to the Anchorage Native Medical Center (ANMC) in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1977. Her first 10 years at ANMC included being a temporary replacement Microbiology Technician for the field stations, where she had the good fortune to be posted to other IHS hospitals in Alaska, including Barrow, Bethel, Kanakanak, Kotzbue and Tanana. She retired from her position as the ANMC Microbiology Supervisor in 2002.

In 1977, Carolyn met her husband, Thomas F. Johnson, while at Tanana when he returned to go moose hunting with his best friend, Ben See, the husband of one of Carolyn's good friends, Judy See. Her mother loved to laugh and say "only Carolyn would start her marriage courtship over the butchering of a moose." They were married on Dec. 31, 1977.

Upon retirement, Carolyn was a founding member of Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue, volunteered at the Palmer City Library and worked a short stint as an inserter at the Valley Frontiersman newspaper. Her major hobbies were her dogs and researching her ancestry, where she discovered over 49,000 individuals "hanging" on her family tree.

Her husband having died in 2003, Carolyn is survived by her sisters, Annette Allsup and Bonnie Morris; brother-in-law, Gary Morris; a son given up for adoption; stepchildren, Thomas F. Johnson Jr. and Michelle Demaline; son-in-law, Rodney Reis; grandchildren, Casey Johnson and Taylor Reis; nieces, Jodie Engelland, Jackie Humphreys, Kelly Teague and their families; nephew, Paul Allsup and his family.

Carolyn's ashes will be interred at Fort Richardson National Cemetery with her beloved husband. A celebration of her life will occur in spring/summer 2025, with friends and family.