Johnnie Key

1930 - 2016

Johnnie Helen Johnson Key passed away Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Memorial service: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Birchman Baptist Church, 9100 North Normandale, Fort Worth, 76116. A reception will follow. Visitation: 1:30 p.m. to service time Saturday at the church. Memorials: Donations may be made in the name of Johnnie Key to International Mission Board of the SBC, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, Va. 23230, 804-353-0151, https://netcommunity.imb.org/ donation/global-missions. Johnnie Key was born June 23, 1930, in Perryton. Her childhood and early adulthood were shaped by life in that region. Because she felt God's call to serve him as a vocation, she left the United States to spend almost 38 years in missionary service in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the International Mission Board of the SBC far from her family and friends. This included 28 years as a seminary professor in music. Growing up during the Depression and World War II helped shape Johnnie's values and character. She developed into a mature, loving, caring and generous adult who was willing to sacrifice greatly for her family and give much back to her church and community. With a joyful, humorous, and a musically inclined personality, she went on to complete a post-graduate year of high school in Perryton, followed by a business degree started at McMurray College and completed at Baylor University in Waco. She married Jerry S. Key at an early age. They had four children, each born in a different city, while she continued to mature, study and work. She poured herself into her love of music, completing a second degree in sacred music as an adult. She found her own voice and the echo of God's while teaching music to others. Many Brazilians she loved, learned and felt God's love through her influence. Retirement from the mission field brought her to Fort Worth where she joined her family, church (Birchman Baptist Church), and community. She continued to give back by volunteering her musical talent in giving piano lessons to adults, children and youth. Hers was a life well-lived, focused on godly pursuits, family-centered, and with values and principals clearly defined and modeled. We will miss her love, smile, kindness and joy of life. We have been enriched by someone loved and touched by God and who has loved and touched us deeply too. Survivors: Johnnie Key's family grieve her loss. Her survivors are her husband of over 65 years, Jerry Stanley Key of Fort Worth; children, Stan Key and his wife, Debbie, of North Richland Hills, Jay Key and his wife, Naomi, of Fort Worth, Guy Key and his wife, Elena, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Jaren Key of Fort Worth; and her grandchildren, Jonathan Key and wife, Erin, of Fort Worth, Jennifer Meeks and husband, Josh, of Milton, Ga., Cristina Key of Dallas, and Vanessa Key da Cruz and husband, Lucas, of Rio de Janeiro. Finally, she also has five great-grandchildren, Estelle Meeks, Nathan Key, Adeline Meeks, Anya Key and Lucille Meeks. If Johnnie Key had any last words of comfort for those left behind they would be the famous words, "Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty I am free at last!"