Obituary: Johnson, Maureen Ellen (Curran)
JOHNSON, Maureen Ellen (Curran)
Maureen Ellen (Curran) Johnson passed away March 26, 2016 in Spokane.
She was born August 19, 1926, the sixth child and second daughter born to Helen and Frank Curran, on the family dairy farm in Hillyard.
With the arrival of her youngest sibling Pete, she became one of two girls (Margaret) amidst seven boys (Tom, Jim, John, Bob, Tony, Francis, and Pete).
So began a lifelong love of sports, adventure and outdoor activity.
Throughout childhood, Maureen more than kept up with her brothers in all things: baseball, tag football, throwing rocks, sling shot wars and romping through the woods.
In 1948 she and brother John took up skiing and joined the Selkirk Ski Club.
She became the picture of grace on skis, traveled with the Ski Club and later her family to Sun Valley, Whitefish and beyond, and taught a generation of kids to ski as an instructor at Mt.
Spokane.
After marriage, Maureen, known as Mo to her friends, took up golf, developing a golf swing so fluid that a golf pro once remarked that if he could have started teaching her as a teen, she would have made the PGA tour.
Later in life she took up biking and cycled her way through the Northwest and eventually Holland.
She was also active in her community, serving as a volunteer at Sacred Heart Hospital, an art docent, and a member of St. Girard’s Guild at Our Lady of Fatima.
After graduating from Holy Names Academy, with money short in the family, she went to work for the Pacific Telephone Company.
In the summer of 1950, she met a Gonzaga law student, Frank Johnson, and that friendship blossomed into a courtship and marriage in 1952, but not before her Irish aunt wrote a congratulatory note in which she wondered why Maureen could not have found a “nice Irish boy.”
Five children followed their marriage: Kathleen Johnson Hart (Raymond Hart); Jean Johnson (Peter Miller); Stephen Johnson (Melissa Manix); Maryellen Johnson (Huw Davis); and Patricia Johnson, deceased.
Her children in turn blessed Maureen and Frank with ten grandchildren: Curran, Elizabeth, and Russell Hart, Ellen, Anna, and Claire Miller, Aran and Kellen Johnson, and Evelyn and Peter Davis.
In addition to their children, Maureen is survived by Frank, with whom she shared a committed and loving partnership for 63 years.
Maureen also is survived by sisters-in-law Lucille Curran and Jean Russ as well as numerous nieces and nephews and their families.
Maureen will continue to be an inspiration to her family.
Well into her 70’s, she and her husband traveled to many foreign countries, often in the company of friends and her beloved brothers and their wives.
She remained a committed golfer, walker and cyclist until deteriorating health limited her ability to continue the physical activities she loved.
Though less celebrated than her athleticism, her quick wit, active and curious mind and love of learning truly defined her.
She was a voracious reader, switching to audiobooks when her vision failed, a fan of great movies, and appreciated fine music and art.
She remained keenly interested in politics and world affairs until her final days.
Her humor, grace, sense of adventure and spirit will continue to burn bright.
She was a mother, a grandmother, a life partner and a constant joy to her family and friends.
We are blessed to have had her in our life.
Private Interment will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Memorial Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 34th and Perry, Spokane, WA on Monday April 4, 2016 at 11:00 am.
The family is grateful to Hospice Care of Spokane for their support and care.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her honor to Hospice Care of Spokane, Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane or Lilac Services for the Blind.
Arrangements have been entrusted to: