Johanna Mitchell

1950 - 2018

A Life Among the Stars

Johanna Mitchell, who guided thousands to embrace the vastness of their potential, has slipped the confines of her body to soar in her beloved stars.

At once unreachable and enduring, the stars (planets to be precise) offered Johanna a path to explaining our connection between Earth and what lies beyond our comprehension. Thousands of people sought her celestial wisdom and as an astrologer, Johanna was the stars' emissary, their translator.

The oldest of six children, Johanna (Jo Anne) Mitchell began her journey on Earth on April 18, 1950 at 8:32 a.m. in East Orange, New Jersey under an Aries Sun. Her mother, Elaine Margaret (McCormack) Mitchell, who was a secretary and home economics teacher, died October 1, 1957 when Johanna was 7; her father, George Gordon Mitchell, who was a plant superintendent at Columbus Coated Fabrics died August 13, 2002.

Johanna ended her earthly journey December 22nd at 9:49 p.m. under a full moon in Cancer in the midst of a meteor shower. She died of complications of  amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , or ALS, in the company of her beloved family and friends.

It was in a world literature class at North Miami High School, that Johanna read Sappho?s The Moon and Stars and began her life-long engagement with the heavens. When she graduated in 1968, she enrolled at Miami University. But with the war raging in Viet Nam and her friends dying in combat, Johanna said her more pressing responsibility was to help end the war. She left school, listening to callings of her heart and her belief in a better, kinder world. A pursuit she would continue until the day she died. After stints in Berkeley CA, Iowa City IA, and Los Angeles CA, she moved to Eugene, the place her chart told her was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Johanna arrived in Eugene in 1982, determined to build a small business interpreting people's astrological charts. Later, she joined the small business program at Lane Community College. With her trademark determination, she took on and solved each challenge. Marketing an alternative business? Give free talks at the Eugene Public Library. Build the skills to guide clients without becoming their therapist? Engage a local psychiatrist as a mentor to teach her effective boundary setting. Need to stay connected to your clients? Send a beautiful custom designed birthday card to each client every year. If Johanna had your address, you got a birthday card.

In 1993 a mutual friend introduced her to Ron Peterson and in August of 1994 they were married, twice - once at Ron's request in a small ceremony with friends and family, and again the next day with 350 of Johanna's closest friends at the University of Oregon Erb Memorial Union Ballroom.

Johanna lived a life devoted to the local. Early in her career in Eugene, besides the free talks at the City Library and predictions printed in the Register Guard as early as 1989, Johanna participated in an annual International Astrology Day celebration where she was a part of panel discussions and other talks. Around the year 2000 she began her annual talk: Future Signs: The Astrology of the Coming Year, at Tsunami Books in Eugene. Her beaming smile and compelling voice offered all those in attendance not only insight into the coming year but also a chance to support a local cause.

"Johanna's sensitivity to the universe and those living in it led to a two decade partnership with Laurel Hill Center to provide assistance to some of the most vulnerable members in our community. Each year Johanna donated the proceeds from her Future Signs astrology event to Laurel Hill Center to support individuals with a serious mental illness to help meet their basic needs. Johanna recognized that basic needs such as housing, food, heat and opportunities for self-care are an essential part of everyone?s mental health. In 2013, at Johanna's urging, the Johanna Mitchell Wellness Fund was created so she could directly support efforts to improve quality of life through physical fitness and nutrition education. Each year 50 individuals receive a one-year free membership to a neighborhood gym. In addition to gym memberships, the Johanna Mitchell Wellness Fund supports weekly healthy cooking classes, access to personal trainers, and work-out clothing and shoes. Laurel Hill Center will forever be grateful for Johanna's support in helping the agency meet its mission to ensure that individuals diagnosed with a serious mental illness can successfully live, learn and work in our community."

- Shawn Murphy, Executive Director, Laurel Hill Center.

Johanna's family - an amazing collage of people defined as much by their shared devotion as blood - was created around her dining room table. A devoted cook, baker and food preserver, she filled her larder with food from the farms of the Willamette Valley, and her table with exceptional meals and conversation. If you held creating beauty to feed the holy in nature in your heart, you were welcome and named as a beloved.

Her sense of family extended to her devotion to many Eugene institutions. She spent nearly 22 years with her YMCA family, doing water aerobics until she was no longer able to transfer into the pool. Patty Krier, who swam with Johanna for nearly a decade remembers her influence. "Our locker room at the Y was so much more than a place to change clothes; it was a place of love, giving, and healing, with Johanna always at the center, creating with her acts of kindness and inspirational deeds, a social and caring community."

She spent 28 years with her women's group The Lunatics, celebrating the arrival of each new and full moon and sharing the joys and challenges of each passing year. During the holiday season, they hosted a fine dinner at a local restaurant for themselves and the men in their lives, who were known appropriately as the Lunatic Fringe. She also spent over a decade with her Oregon Country Fair family, working with the food booths Get Fried Rice and Lovin' Oven.

In the year 2000, Johanna and Ron began attending weekend ritual workshops taught by Martin Prechtel. Johanna attended his Writers Workshops in New Mexico, and later joined Ron who was already attending Martins school in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico. A number of fellow students of Martin?s, came from the northwest and across the country to be part of the circle that helped shepherd her across the last weeks of her journey.

In the past three years, as her attention turned more and more to the diagnosis and management of her ALS, Johanna shared cookies, flowers from her lovely garden, homemade jams, chutneys and angel cards with staff and other patients at the Regional Infusion Center at Sacred Heart Medical Center and the ALS Clinics at Providence Hospital in Portland as well as the local ALS Foundation Support Group.

Her generosity was returned this past summer when local artist Rogene Manas and other close friends spearheaded a benefit for Johanna at Tsunami Books. Hundreds of friends, clients and admirers came to bid on and purchase donated items. Johanna shared a bookmark designed by Rogene with each person who attended the fundraiser, a continuation of the birthday card tradition. The proceeds made it possible for Johanna to stay in her home until her crossing.

"Johanna helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people who, like me, were grateful for her celestial guidance and spiritual counseling," Rogene said. "When we started the Benefit Johanna Mitchell Fundraiser her community came to her rescue with financial support that far exceeded our expectations. She was beloved by so many."

In the weeks preceding her death, hundreds of friends and family from across the globe sent messages of love and support. Johanna celebrated every word, finding comfort in the love and affection she had devoted a lifetime offering to those around her.

A few weeks before her death she sent an email to friends, family and clients:

"Last night I had a fantastic dream! All the cards you have sent to me with your glorious words and beautiful images were woven into a feathered cape full of colors that wrapped around me. I felt so warm knowing the Angel of Death is to not to be feared, but to be embraced. I will be able to fly."

To honor her dream, her granddaughters, Sylvia and Maisie Titterington, hung each card on strands attached to the ceiling above her head, creating what Johanna called a "tallis of love."

Tallis: from Hebrew, literally: a cover or prayer shawl

Johanna shared her life with hundreds of loved ones. She is survived by: Her husband, Ron Peterson, of Eugene, Oregon. Her siblings and their spouses: Kathleen Margaret and her husband Randy Thornton of Newark, Ohio; Michael G. Mitchell and his wife Cathalee of Gahanna, Ohio; Matthew W. Mitchell and his wife Becky of Scottsdale, Arizona; Jaimee (Mitchell) and her husband Kevin Archer of Hillsboro, Ohio; Kathleen (Quita) Snell and her husband Ron Titterington of Eugene, Oregon. Her son Michael Kennan and daughter Anne-Marie Summerhays of Portland, Oregon. Her grandchildren: Sylvia (Olivia) and Maisie (Vasalisa) Snell-Titterington of Eugene, Oregon. Her aunt, Mary Ann Bednar of Boonton, New Jersey. Her nieces and nephews: Stephen M. Ferrell, Lewis Center, Ohio; Brian M. Henry, Ohio; Kyle M. Henry, Columbus, Ohio; Zachary M. Mitchell, of Westerville, Ohio; Her niece Laura Elaine Henry preceded her in death.

The Celebration of Life for Johanna Mitchell will be held on Sunday, February 3rd at 2pm at the John G. Shedd Institute at 868 High Street, in downtown Eugene. Please bring a single, unwrapped flower that will be used during the service.

Light refreshments and sharing will follow the event.

Gifts in Johanna's memory can be made to either the Laurel Hill Center or the Eugene Family YMCA. Each place has the ability to make online contributions. There is an area on each online form to dedicate a gift in memory of someone, along with a space to include the person's name. Her name can also be included on the memo line of a check sent directly to the organization.

Eugene Family YMCA, 2055 Patterson Street, Eugene, Oregon 97405, Eugene Family YMCA

Laurel Hill Center, 2145 Centennial Plaza, Eugene, Oregon 97401,
Laurel Hill Center click on donate button, scroll down to the Johanna Mitchell Wellness Fund

The Stars -- symbols of magic and potential, keepers of the infinite history of the universe, time unceasing.