Elizabeth Johnson

Libba Johnson, 85, passed away peacefully on June 1, 2023, in Toledo, Ohio. She was born in Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 30, 1938, to James Robert Oglesby, Jr., and Mary Collier, who predeceased her. She was also predeceased by her sisters, Mary Ann Oglesby Neeley and Lenore Oglesby Kirkpatrick; her first husband, John Larry Thomas, and her second husband, Reverend Edward Johnson. She is survived by her children, Lenore Thomas Ealy (Steve) and John Thornell Thomas (Kristie); her stepdaughters, Elizabeth Johnson Spell (Jimmy), Frances Caron Brown (Jefferson); eleven grandchildren, Walker Daniel Thomas (Laura Lee), William R. K. Thomas, Caroline Elizabeth Thomas, Ralph Collier Ealy, Amelia Palmer Thomas, Charles Edward Johnson, Joshua Dakota Caron, Lacy Micayla Caron, Katie Boerst (Colin), Alek Wietrzykowski, Bailey Wietrzykowski, and one great grandchild. In addition, Libba is survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their growing families.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at The First Presbyterian Church in Prattville, Alabama, at 220 S Chestnut St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Elizabeth Collier Oglesby Thomas Johnson Endowed Scholarship at Huntingdon College, 1500 East Fairview Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36106 or to Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, 301 Columbus St, Montgomery, Alabama 36104.

Libba was raised in Clanton, Alabama, where she enjoyed her early years roaming the family’s farm and riding their beloved horse, Bess. She early discovered a love of adventure and books. On her birthday each year she and her friend Anne Jester would climb a favorite mimosa tree with their book of the week and enjoy reading together for hours. Her family celebrated her 85th birthday with morning mimosas. As a teen Libba was an avid student, played piano for her church, was a youth fellowship leader, and volunteered at the Chilton County Hospital, where she was working the day the family home burned. This early adversity equipped her with a resilience that she would demonstrate many times throughout her life.

She graduated Chilton County High School in 1956 and followed her mother’s and her sisters’ footsteps to Huntingdon College in Montgomery, where she graduated in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. At Huntingdon she served as vice president of the student body. Libba earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Alabama in 1981.

In 1959 she married her childhood sweetheart, John Larry Thomas (d. 1982) of Alexander City, Alabama. The couple enjoyed travel and lived in Montgomery, Alabama; Winfield, Kansas; Mobile, Alabama; Farmington, New Mexico; Fairhope, Alabama; and finally settled in Albertville, Alabama, where Libba became very active in the First Presbyterian Church, in numerous civic and social organizations, in education, and in politics. With her passion for education she served as the founding director of The Sandbox Preschool and was elected to the Marshall County Board of Education in 1974, a position she held for eight years. She also served as a director of the Alabama State School Board Association. In her “spare” time she was usually on the phone with her friend Lynda Gayle Knight plotting the next activity of the local or state chapters of Kappa Kappa Iota, one of the oldest professional organizations for educators in the United States. She was also a member of the Albertville Bicentennial Committee, the Marshall County Historical Society, and numerous other clubs and associations. In 1975 Libba received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Albertville Business and Professional Women’s Club.

Living in Prattville, Alabama, after the death of her first husband, a mutual friend introduced Libba to Edward Johnson, then pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Montgomery. Libba and Ed married in 1985 and enjoyed many full years of ministry together in Montgomery; Wynndale, Mississippi; Jackson, Mississippi; and Prattville, Alabama until Ed’s death in 2020. They regularly attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America; and Libba became a popular teacher and mentor to women in the churches. During these years Bibba and GrandEd watched their families grow and relished their roles as grandparents and great aunt and uncle to the new generations. Libba spent the last years of her life in Auburn, Alabama, and Toledo, Ohio, enjoying tailgate parties, toddy time, and the ubiquitous game of Scrabble.

We have recounted the things Libba did, but these milestones of a life don’t truly capture who she was: a witty, adventurous, and caring daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend who was much beloved and will be held in loving memory.