Elizabeth Anne Johnson, 90, of Hurricane, West Virginia went home to the Lord on June 23, 2024, following a brief period of declining health.
Born to Kenneth and Emma Virgin in Dunbar, West Virginia on March 16, 1934, Anne was the second of three daughters. Growing up during the Great Depression and the Second World War, Anne learned the importance of prudence and caring for family, friends, and neighbors—values she cherished throughout her life. She proved this early on, when after graduating from Dunbar High School she took a job as a switchboard operator with the local telephone company to help support her family after her father’s untimely passing.
In 1957, Anne married the love of her life, the strapping young Army Corporal Tom Johnson of St. Albans. They shared over 65 years together before Tom passed last year, raising their daughters, Kim and Cindy, in St. Albans. After sending her first daughter off to college, Anne began a career at CAMC Memorial where she worked as a unit clerk for nearly two decades to make sure that her and Tom could give their daughters and their families the best start in life.
Anne and Tom began their retirement in a brand-new home they built in Hurricane. During this period of her life, Anne found more family through the fellowship of Church in the Valley, Milton, where she and Tom worshipped regularly for nearly three decades. Anne served as a deaconess for many years, led the nursing home ministry, and continued attending Sunday service till as recently as a few weeks ago. In addition to her love for the church, she loved taking trips to the beach, did her best to never miss an episode of Wheel of Fortune, and could spend hours talking on the phone to keep up with family and friends.
Mawmaw to her four grandchildren, Anne loved to brag about each of them, calling you in close so she could whisper some bit of gossip that was ultimately about how her grandchildren were the best. Even during her later years, she insisted it was her job to take care of them, always asking if she could make them a sandwich or help them do their laundry. Anne was an avid cook, whose sweet tooth meant a gift for making the very best sweets from scratch, including her infamous peanut butter fudge—4 c. sugar, 1 c. evaporated milk, 2 T. light corn syrup, 1 T. white vinegar, 18 oz. smooth peanut butter, and 1 pint marshmallow fluff—which was a constant best seller at her grandchildren’s school bake sales, a regular goodie in care packages, and will always be a hit with anyone who tastes it.
Anne was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Lee Johnson; father, Kenneth Walker Virgin; mother, Emma Laura Virgin (née Davis); and brother, Kenneth Keith Virgin. Anne is survived by her two daughters, Kimberly Anne Cobb (John) and Cynthia E. “Cindy” Beane (Brian); two sisters, Eva Mae Clark and Rose Louella Tinsley; four grandchildren, John Thomas Cobb, Brett Nolan Cobb, Lindsey Grace Beane, and Wyatt Keith Beane; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, June 27, 2024, at Church in the Valley in Milton with Pastor Troy Nicely officiating. Visitation will begin at the church one hour before the service. Burial will follow funeral services in Grandview Memorial Park, Dunbar.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Anne’s memory to Church in the Valley, Milton.
Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.timeformemory.com/wallace.
