Mary B. Johnson, a resident of Concord for nearly 60 years and Concord’s Honored Citizen in 2000, died on September 29 at age 96. She leaves an enduring legacy of service and love for Concord.
Mary was born in Portland, Indiana, to Clyde D. and May Bechdolt, and grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she attended the Hotel Dieu School of Nursing.
In Louisiana, she cared for stigmatized patients in the Carville, Louisiana leprosarium — the first such colony in the U.S. — where hundreds of patients (with what is now called Hansen’s disease) were banished. Mary came to New York in her early twenties, where her nursing career first brought her to Memorial Hospital (now Sloan-Kettering, where her patients included Babe Ruth,) to New York Hospital, and to her work as a public health nurse in Jersey City, New Jersey. Mary later moved to Philadelphia, where she obtained a bachelor of science degree in nursing education at the University of Pennsylvania before becoming a clinical instructor in Child and Maternal Health and OB/GYN at the nursing schools of Jefferson Medical College and Philadelphia General Hospital. It was here that she uncovered her gift as a mentor, which would become part of her professional and personal legacy.
After marrying and eventually arriving in Concord with her husband and two young children, Mary was an active parent in her children’s schools, and later began work as an instructional aide in the CASE special education program for hearing-impaired children at the Ripley and Willard schools, where she worked for a decade.
After leaving her work in the Concord Public Schools, Mary became an active and visible member of the Concord business community. She managed the former John Douglas store and later the Mary Curtis Shop while serving two terms as the president of the Concord Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Concord chapter of Rotary International (where she was named a Paul Harris Fellow), and as a member of the Tourism Task Force and co-chair of the Visitor’s Information Center. Mary exercised her skills in diplomacy and fundraising in what was at times a contentious project. She was relentless in her efforts to secure funds and a location for the Center, driven by her southern hospitality and a desire to provide a more friendly and appropriate welcome to Concord’s many visitors.
Mary was dedicated to Emerson Hospital, where she served on the Board of Directors for 14 years. She had initially served as a volunteer in the first hospice training program, as a case aide in the aftercare substance abuse program, and as a corporator.
Elected to the Concord Housing Authority, Mary served for 10 years, including two terms as president. Her commitment to affordable housing — particularly to accommodate the disabled and elderly — drove her tireless efforts to secure funding for the renovation of the Peter Bulkeley Terrace building, turning the run-down, communal housing into an award-winning community of independent apartments. During her tenure, she secured over $2 million in funding, including private donations, to see the project to completion while ensuring that numerous capital projects could be completed to improve the living conditions within all of the CHA’s housing developments.
Mary’s passion for senior housing is further reflected in her service on the Board of Directors of New England Deaconess Association, including during the creation of Newbury Court. She was also a trustee of Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford for 13 years and board chair of Carleton-Willard At Home.
Mary had also served as chair of the board of the former Belknap House and as a board member of the Timothy Wheeler House, two senior living homes in Concord.
She was a board member of the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest (now the Concord Carlisle Foundation) for six years, including serving as president. In 1995, Mary founded the Chest’s Cornerstone Initiative in honor of her late husband, Franklin Johnson, who had been a founding member of the Community Chest. Cornerstone funds innovative projects and initiatives within the community, which have included youth programs, local police training, and teen mental health services. She was most recently involved in Cornerstone’s now annual granting of scholarships to candidates who have demonstrated interest or experience in, or commitment to, racial justice, equity, or working with historically underserved or underprivileged populations.
Mary was on the boards of or was otherwise involved in numerous other local organizations and initiatives, including restorative justice and Concord Prison Outreach, as a corporator of the Orchard House, a board member of the Council on Aging, in fundraising efforts for the Harvey Wheeler building and the Fowler branch of the library. She served on the Concord Youth Advisory Committee, the CCHS senior project advisory council, and the Town’s Y2K Task Force, and she was on the board of the Domestic Violence Services Network.
Mary was a kind, encouraging, and loving friend and mentor to many, with an unforgettable sense of humor and endless curiosity. Mary most enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, especially loved the company of children and dogs, and found great joy in playing golf and traveling throughout the US and abroad, including many solo trips after she was widowed. She loved music and was an avid reader with a special love of poetry, which she would often write or recite spontaneously to the delight of those she was with. Mary was curious and loved to learn, followed news constantly, whether local, national, or international, and savored conversations and sharing ideas. She maintained regular communication with the organizations with which she had been involved as she cared deeply about all of them and always had an idea to share.
Above all else, she was a devoted, inspirational, and loving mother to her daughter, Sarah D. Compton of Concord, and her son, Jeffrey A. Compton of Houston, Texas, and his partner, Patricia Casey, and an adoring grandmother to Elizabeth Compton of Austin, Texas. Mary was predeceased by her husband, Franklin R. Johnson, and her former husband, Robert Compton
We are grateful for the loving care that Mary received at Rivercrest at Newbury Court for the last several months.
A celebration of Mary’s life will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 16, at Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street.
You may honor Mary with contributions in her memory to Emerson Health, for the development of the new emergency room (Emerson Health Foundation, 133 Old Road to Nine Acre Corner, Concord, MA 01742); or to the Concord Carlisle Foundation, for the Cornerstone Initiative (19 Main Street, Suite 2, Concord, MA 01742.)
Arrangements are under the care of the Concord Funeral Home, concordfuneral.com.
