Mary Melissa Alford Johns died suddenly on February 17, 2020 at Falmouth by the Sea where she had been a resident for over five years. Her daughters are grateful that her much loved caregiver, Gena Ward, was holding her hand as she left this world. She was born on October 15, 1926, the youngest of four children, to Rufus Franklin and Ruby Mary (Layton) Alford in Globe, Arizona. She spent her entire childhood there, except for several summers when she and her mother (her siblings were older and had moved on to begin their adult lives) joined her father at his camp in New Mexico where he was the mill superintendent for a gold mining company. She always attributed her love for mountains and the scent of pine trees to those summers spent exploring from dawn to dusk with other miners’ children. After completing high school, Mary enrolled in the Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado in June of 1947. Because the war ended before her graduation, her service was not required, and she became a surgical nurse at the hospital in Denver.
In August of 1947 she accompanied a friend from school to her hometown in western Nebraska, where she met Harold Johns, who was visiting his family on a break from college. She was “quite taken by Harold” and they were married four months later. She joined him in Lincoln and continued her nursing career while he completed his education. In September 1949, they moved to the Sandhills of Nebraska where Harold accepted his first (and only) teaching assignment in Bassett. Mary brought a lively sense of fun and adventure to their life together, finding ways to bring the other young faculty members together for waffle dinners, ice cream making parties, or evenings of card and board games, as resources were thin.
Mary shared time raising a family of four children with part time work as a surgical nurse at Bassett Hospital, becoming a full-time charge nurse in 196l at the new Rock County Hospital. She continued in this position until moving to New York in July of 1985, where she worked as a registered nurse in a skilled care home in Briarcliff Manor, New York. When Mary and Harold moved to Maine in 1991, she worked for another year at Pine Point Nursing Center in Scarborough until retiring in 1992.
Mary found time in her very busy schedule for an active church life, teaching Sunday School, sponsoring the Methodist youth group, assisting with drama productions and belonging to the Wesleyan service guild. Additionally, she was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, the Nite Owls extension club, and the Masonic Eastern Star Lodge and hosted the best children’s birthday parties ever, featuring scavenger hunts, one-act plays, and treasure hunts with clever clues for all ages! After leaving Nebraska, she and Harold were active in West Scarborough United Methodist Church, where they continued to attend after moving to Yarmouth, until health challenges kept them away. She was also a hands-on grandmother, assisting with the daily care of her oldest daughter’s children while working full time for five years in New York, and attending their every sporting event and music program.
She was very proud of her children and her grandchildren, expressing joy at every experience and adventure they might be having. Though challenged by dementia for more than fifteen years, Mary remained a cheerful, happy person, brightening with the weekly visits of her great grandsons, and welcoming visitors into her room with a smile until she died. She will be missed by her family and her wonderful caregivers, both from Falmouth by the Sea and Beacon Hospice. It seemed that she would always be with us, and that it was likely she would “flunk out of” hospice care, as she seemed to have recovered so completely from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in September.
Mary was predeceased by her parents; her siblings, Doris, Ruth and Byron, her son, Timothy in 1984, and her husband of 67 years in 2015. She is survived by her daughters: Michele Johns (Nick Desiderio) of Yarmouth, ME, Pamela (Ed) Madison of Newington, CT, and Angela Johns (Michael Spencer) of Sutherland, ME; her grandchildren: Katharine (Andy) Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Mark (Lora Van Slyke) Desiderio of Denver, CO, Adam Madison of Newington, CT, Alec (Whitney) Spencer of North Platte, Nebraska, Nicholas (Tara Ryan) Desiderio of Quincy, MA, Sam Madison of Vernon, CT, and Jessica Spencer of Windham, ME; her great grandchildren: Jack, William and Andrew Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Cozette and Derringer Spencer of North Platte, NE, and Susan Desiderio of Denver, CO (born just several days before her death); and many nephews and nieces in California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Washington and Missouri.
Mary will be laid to rest on August 8 with her husband, their son, and her brother and a sister in Bassett, the place they raised their family and had so many friends and memories. Should you wish, please donate to a charity dear to you or to the Adopt a Student Fund of the Rock County Alumni Association in Bassett, Nebraska.
In August of 1947 she accompanied a friend from school to her hometown in western Nebraska, where she met Harold Johns, who was visiting his family on a break from college. She was “quite taken by Harold” and they were married four months later. She joined him in Lincoln and continued her nursing career while he completed his education. In September 1949, they moved to the Sandhills of Nebraska where Harold accepted his first (and only) teaching assignment in Bassett. Mary brought a lively sense of fun and adventure to their life together, finding ways to bring the other young faculty members together for waffle dinners, ice cream making parties, or evenings of card and board games, as resources were thin.
Mary shared time raising a family of four children with part time work as a surgical nurse at Bassett Hospital, becoming a full-time charge nurse in 196l at the new Rock County Hospital. She continued in this position until moving to New York in July of 1985, where she worked as a registered nurse in a skilled care home in Briarcliff Manor, New York. When Mary and Harold moved to Maine in 1991, she worked for another year at Pine Point Nursing Center in Scarborough until retiring in 1992.
Mary found time in her very busy schedule for an active church life, teaching Sunday School, sponsoring the Methodist youth group, assisting with drama productions and belonging to the Wesleyan service guild. Additionally, she was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, the Nite Owls extension club, and the Masonic Eastern Star Lodge and hosted the best children’s birthday parties ever, featuring scavenger hunts, one-act plays, and treasure hunts with clever clues for all ages! After leaving Nebraska, she and Harold were active in West Scarborough United Methodist Church, where they continued to attend after moving to Yarmouth, until health challenges kept them away. She was also a hands-on grandmother, assisting with the daily care of her oldest daughter’s children while working full time for five years in New York, and attending their every sporting event and music program.
She was very proud of her children and her grandchildren, expressing joy at every experience and adventure they might be having. Though challenged by dementia for more than fifteen years, Mary remained a cheerful, happy person, brightening with the weekly visits of her great grandsons, and welcoming visitors into her room with a smile until she died. She will be missed by her family and her wonderful caregivers, both from Falmouth by the Sea and Beacon Hospice. It seemed that she would always be with us, and that it was likely she would “flunk out of” hospice care, as she seemed to have recovered so completely from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in September.
Mary was predeceased by her parents; her siblings, Doris, Ruth and Byron, her son, Timothy in 1984, and her husband of 67 years in 2015. She is survived by her daughters: Michele Johns (Nick Desiderio) of Yarmouth, ME, Pamela (Ed) Madison of Newington, CT, and Angela Johns (Michael Spencer) of Sutherland, ME; her grandchildren: Katharine (Andy) Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Mark (Lora Van Slyke) Desiderio of Denver, CO, Adam Madison of Newington, CT, Alec (Whitney) Spencer of North Platte, Nebraska, Nicholas (Tara Ryan) Desiderio of Quincy, MA, Sam Madison of Vernon, CT, and Jessica Spencer of Windham, ME; her great grandchildren: Jack, William and Andrew Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Cozette and Derringer Spencer of North Platte, NE, and Susan Desiderio of Denver, CO (born just several days before her death); and many nephews and nieces in California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Washington and Missouri.
Mary will be laid to rest on August 8 with her husband, their son, and her brother and a sister in Bassett, the place they raised their family and had so many friends and memories. Should you wish, please donate to a charity dear to you or to the Adopt a Student Fund of the Rock County Alumni Association in Bassett, Nebraska.
Mary Melissa Alford Johns died suddenly on February 17, 2020 at Falmouth by the Sea where she had been a resident for over five years. Her daughters are grateful that her much loved caregiver, Gena Ward, was holding her hand as she left this world. She was born on October 15, 1926, the youngest of four children, to Rufus Franklin and Ruby Mary (Layton) Alford in Globe, Arizona. She spent her entire childhood there, except for several summers when she and her mother (her siblings were older and had moved on to begin their adult lives) joined her father at his camp in New Mexico where he was the mill superintendent for a gold mining company. She always attributed her love for mountains and the scent of pine trees to those summers spent exploring from dawn to dusk with other miners’ children. After completing high school, Mary enrolled in the Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado in June of 1947. Because the war ended before her graduation, her service was not required, and she became a surgical nurse at the hospital in Denver.
In August of 1947 she accompanied a friend from school to her hometown in western Nebraska, where she met Harold Johns, who was visiting his family on a break from college. She was “quite taken by Harold” and they were married four months later. She joined him in Lincoln and continued her nursing career while he completed his education. In September 1949, they moved to the Sandhills of Nebraska where Harold accepted his first (and only) teaching assignment in Bassett. Mary brought a lively sense of fun and adventure to their life together, finding ways to bring the other young faculty members together for waffle dinners, ice cream making parties, or evenings of card and board games, as resources were thin.
Mary shared time raising a family of four children with part time work as a surgical nurse at Bassett Hospital, becoming a full-time charge nurse in 196l at the new Rock County Hospital. She continued in this position until moving to New York in July of 1985, where she worked as a registered nurse in a skilled care home in Briarcliff Manor, New York. When Mary and Harold moved to Maine in 1991, she worked for another year at Pine Point Nursing Center in Scarborough until retiring in 1992.
Mary found time in her very busy schedule for an active church life, teaching Sunday School, sponsoring the Methodist youth group, assisting with drama productions and belonging to the Wesleyan service guild. Additionally, she was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, the Nite Owls extension club, and the Masonic Eastern Star Lodge and hosted the best children’s birthday parties ever, featuring scavenger hunts, one-act plays, and treasure hunts with clever clues for all ages! After leaving Nebraska, she and Harold were active in West Scarborough United Methodist Church, where they continued to attend after moving to Yarmouth, until health challenges kept them away. She was also a hands-on grandmother, assisting with the daily care of her oldest daughter’s children while working full time for five years in New York, and attending their every sporting event and music program.
She was very proud of her children and her grandchildren, expressing joy at every experience and adventure they might be having. Though challenged by dementia for more than fifteen years, Mary remained a cheerful, happy person, brightening with the weekly visits of her great grandsons, and welcoming visitors into her room with a smile until she died. She will be missed by her family and her wonderful caregivers, both from Falmouth by the Sea and Beacon Hospice. It seemed that she would always be with us, and that it was likely she would “flunk out of” hospice care, as she seemed to have recovered so completely from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in September.
Mary was predeceased by her parents; her siblings, Doris, Ruth and Byron, her son, Timothy in 1984, and her husband of 67 years in 2015. She is survived by her daughters: Michele Johns (Nick Desiderio) of Yarmouth, ME, Pamela (Ed) Madison of Newington, CT, and Angela Johns (Michael Spencer) of Sutherland, ME; her grandchildren: Katharine (Andy) Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Mark (Lora Van Slyke) Desiderio of Denver, CO, Adam Madison of Newington, CT, Alec (Whitney) Spencer of North Platte, Nebraska, Nicholas (Tara Ryan) Desiderio of Quincy, MA, Sam Madison of Vernon, CT, and Jessica Spencer of Windham, ME; her great grandchildren: Jack, William and Andrew Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Cozette and Derringer Spencer of North Platte, NE, and Susan Desiderio of Denver, CO (born just several days before her death); and many nephews and nieces in California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Washington and Missouri.
Mary will be laid to rest on August 8 with her husband, their son, and her brother and a sister in Bassett, the place they raised their family and had so many friends and memories. Should you wish, please donate to a charity dear to you or to the Adopt a Student Fund of the Rock County Alumni Association in Bassett, Nebraska.
In August of 1947 she accompanied a friend from school to her hometown in western Nebraska, where she met Harold Johns, who was visiting his family on a break from college. She was “quite taken by Harold” and they were married four months later. She joined him in Lincoln and continued her nursing career while he completed his education. In September 1949, they moved to the Sandhills of Nebraska where Harold accepted his first (and only) teaching assignment in Bassett. Mary brought a lively sense of fun and adventure to their life together, finding ways to bring the other young faculty members together for waffle dinners, ice cream making parties, or evenings of card and board games, as resources were thin.
Mary shared time raising a family of four children with part time work as a surgical nurse at Bassett Hospital, becoming a full-time charge nurse in 196l at the new Rock County Hospital. She continued in this position until moving to New York in July of 1985, where she worked as a registered nurse in a skilled care home in Briarcliff Manor, New York. When Mary and Harold moved to Maine in 1991, she worked for another year at Pine Point Nursing Center in Scarborough until retiring in 1992.
Mary found time in her very busy schedule for an active church life, teaching Sunday School, sponsoring the Methodist youth group, assisting with drama productions and belonging to the Wesleyan service guild. Additionally, she was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, the Nite Owls extension club, and the Masonic Eastern Star Lodge and hosted the best children’s birthday parties ever, featuring scavenger hunts, one-act plays, and treasure hunts with clever clues for all ages! After leaving Nebraska, she and Harold were active in West Scarborough United Methodist Church, where they continued to attend after moving to Yarmouth, until health challenges kept them away. She was also a hands-on grandmother, assisting with the daily care of her oldest daughter’s children while working full time for five years in New York, and attending their every sporting event and music program.
She was very proud of her children and her grandchildren, expressing joy at every experience and adventure they might be having. Though challenged by dementia for more than fifteen years, Mary remained a cheerful, happy person, brightening with the weekly visits of her great grandsons, and welcoming visitors into her room with a smile until she died. She will be missed by her family and her wonderful caregivers, both from Falmouth by the Sea and Beacon Hospice. It seemed that she would always be with us, and that it was likely she would “flunk out of” hospice care, as she seemed to have recovered so completely from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in September.
Mary was predeceased by her parents; her siblings, Doris, Ruth and Byron, her son, Timothy in 1984, and her husband of 67 years in 2015. She is survived by her daughters: Michele Johns (Nick Desiderio) of Yarmouth, ME, Pamela (Ed) Madison of Newington, CT, and Angela Johns (Michael Spencer) of Sutherland, ME; her grandchildren: Katharine (Andy) Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Mark (Lora Van Slyke) Desiderio of Denver, CO, Adam Madison of Newington, CT, Alec (Whitney) Spencer of North Platte, Nebraska, Nicholas (Tara Ryan) Desiderio of Quincy, MA, Sam Madison of Vernon, CT, and Jessica Spencer of Windham, ME; her great grandchildren: Jack, William and Andrew Estabrook of Yarmouth, ME, Cozette and Derringer Spencer of North Platte, NE, and Susan Desiderio of Denver, CO (born just several days before her death); and many nephews and nieces in California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Washington and Missouri.
Mary will be laid to rest on August 8 with her husband, their son, and her brother and a sister in Bassett, the place they raised their family and had so many friends and memories. Should you wish, please donate to a charity dear to you or to the Adopt a Student Fund of the Rock County Alumni Association in Bassett, Nebraska.
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