Edward Johnson

Edward Johnson, 69, of Wytheville died Saturday, July 11, 2009, at his home surrounded by family. Funeral service will be held Wednesday, July 15, at 11 a.m. at West End United Methodist Church with the Revs. Janet Richardson and Ann Blair officiating. Interment will be in West End Cemetery. He was born April 1, 1940, in Nashua, N.H., and graduated from Westford Academy high school in Massachusetts in 1958. He served 21 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired in 1978 as a master sergeant. He also worked as a purchasing agent for Lockheed Martin in Chelmsford, Mass., and retired in 2002. He relocated to Wytheville in 2002 and made it his home with Mary Fraser Johnson, his wife of 48 years. Both were members of West End United Methodist Church. A devoted family man who cherished nature, the mountains and his country, he will be fondly remembered for his sense of humor, his love of working outdoors and his gift of making strangers feel like long-lost friends. He was a loving husband and father who will be greatly missed. He was preceded in death by his father, David D. Johnson; and a brother, Robert Johnson. Survivors include his wife, Mary Fraser Johnson of Wytheville; three daughters, Susan McQuaide of Milford, N.H., Cynthia Johnson and her fiancé, Mark Perry, of Pepperell, Mass., and Wendy Johnson and her life partner, Miranda Sherman, of Silver Spring, Md.; his mother, Genevieve Dubinski Johnson of Westford, Mass.; a sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Robert Tewell of Slidell, La.; five grandchildren, Shannon Cratty and her husband, Jonny Cratty, of Pendleton, Ore., Steven Hamel and Reuben Perry of Pepperell, Mass., David McQuaide and Mary Maude McQuaide of Milford, N.H.; and several cousins, nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Lung Assoc. of Virginia, 9221 Forest Hill Ave., Richmond, VA 23235 or at www.lungva.orghttp://www.lungva.org/. Grubb Funeral Home in Wytheville is in charge of the arrangements.