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In memory of

Carolyn Marie Johnson

Grayslake, IL, USA

June 25, 1943 - January 10, 2019

Jun 25, 1943 - Jan 10, 2019

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Carolyn Marie Johnson, age 75, of Grayslake, IL passed away at home early in the morning of Thursday, January 10, 2019 after a courageous two-year battle with liver cancer. She faced her sudden diagnosis without fear and viewed her cancer journey as an adventure. Enthusiastically playing “the cancer card” whenever she could, Carolyn cheerfully told people that she was very healthy, except for having cancer.

In June of 1943, Carolyn was born in Martinez, California to Earl and Helen Elmquist, the firstborn of their six children. Carolyn mothered and adored her younger siblings, Janet, Ron, Chris, David and Liz, developing a strong sense of responsibility and a focus on others at a very early age. She’d escape piles of laundry (all those cloth diapers!) to hide away with a book, beginning a life-long love affair with reading. Blessed with beauty and intelligence, Carolyn always loved school. Her father worked for Shell Oil and the family moved many times. As the new girl at school, Carolyn made friends easily. She had an affinity for languages, studying Latin, Spanish and Russian, placing second in an 8th grade Spanish competition across the entire Chicagoland area. She majored in Spanish and minored in Russian at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, where she met her husband, Ernest Dan Johnson. She left her mark at U of I as a Bronze Tablet Scholar in the top 3% of her graduating class. She and Dan married in 1965, returning to their honeymoon home in married housing at U of I. They lived in Batavia, IL and Tallmadge, OH before settling in Wildwood, IL in 1974 with their children, Wendy and Erik, who would also both attend U of I. Carolyn and Dan were married for 53 happy years, welcoming four beloved grandchildren into their lives.

Forever a lover of words and knowledge, Carolyn took adult courses in Japanese, French and Italian, just for fun. She and Dan loved music and dancing... they’d dance at parties, in their kitchen, at restaurants (whether there was a dance floor or not), anywhere the music and mood inspired them. They were a joy to watch. Carolyn’s taste in music ranged from classical to alternative. She lovingly cared for her family, treating them to her masterful, glorious cooking. After working as a bookkeeper for 27 years, she happily retired in 2007. She loved a fierce game of cribbage and a great bargain, stretching a dollar beyond the imaginable. She got a kick out of a funny pun and laughed uproariously with her head thrown back for so long, you couldn’t help but laugh too. Much of her retirement was spent keeping her pencil portrait artist daughter company, watching approximately one million movies together while Wendy was drawing. She cherished time spent with her family, celebrating each grandchild’s events, celebrations and milestones with gusto. Carolyn loved her parents and siblings dearly, treasuring visits with them at her parents’ wonderful lakeside retirement home in the mountains of Hendersonville, NC. She was blessed to see her parents live into their 90’s and heartbroken to lose her husband’s parents much too soon, and her sister, Janet almost exactly a year ago.

As Carolyn told every healthcare professional who helped through her cancer journey, she didn’t “deal in negative emotion.” She never held grudges, never worried, never complained. She was optimistic, content and ready with a hug at all times, even as her illness sapped her strength. She could be a bit of a critic, however, sending back many a restaurant meal that didn’t live up to her own stellar culinary skills. She always wanted to help, even when the help wasn’t always welcome; but she was almost always right.

From her earliest days until the very end of her life, Carolyn was always reading. She was a devoted patron of the Warren Newport Public Library in Gurnee, particularly her beloved bookmobile. Upon her arrival in Lake County, Carolyn began checking out a back breaking number of books every trip to the bookmobile, reserving best sellers in advance, and supplying her husband with a bountiful supply of reading material she knew that he’d enjoy. She loved to describe books she was reading, reveling in wonderful stories, in lovely turns of phrase. She developed friendships with the “bookmobile ladies” who recommended special books to their very best customer.

Carolyn will be missed beyond words by her husband of 53 years, Dan Johnson, her daughter Wendy Johnson Zumpano and son-in-law Joe Zumpano, Jr., her son Erik Johnson and her grandchildren, Joseph Zumpano III, Deven Johnson, Max Zumpano, and Linnea Johnson, her loving siblings, Alpha Xi Delta sorority sisters, extended family and friends. The family extends gratitude to Vicki Crow Doctor, Wendy’s best friend and honorary daughter to Carolyn and Dan, for her medical guidance and loving support that eased minds and hearts during the hardest days.

Great Lakes Hospice was a comfort to the family and Carolyn and family deeply appreciated the patient care of Dr. Bruce Gershenhorn and the staff at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. With typical selflessness, Carolyn donated her body through Science Care. No immediate services are planned, but a celebration of life will be scheduled when the weather is warmer.

The family invites you to help us honor Carolyn’s memory with a gift to the Warren Newport Public Library. We are hoping that they will consider naming the bookmobile after her. The gift is tax deductible and news of your support will be published by the library, unless you prefer to remain anonymous. If you’d like to help us make this dream come true, you can help us in two ways.

1) As a family, we are looking forward to making a gift in person of checks received. If you’d like to be included in our group family gift, please send checks made out to “Warren Newport Public Library” to Wendy Zumpano at 736 Gloster Court, Gurnee, IL 60031.

2) If an envelope, checkbook and stamp sounds like a pain, you can also donate online at https://www.wnpl.info/support…. You’ll choose the yellow Donate button and follow the instructions. For credit/debit be sure to click the “Add special instructions to the seller” section and add, “In Memory of Carolyn M. Johnson”. Please also let Wendy Zumpano know of your donation at wzumpano@gmail.com so the family can send personal thanks to you.

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In lieu of flowers, consider a gift to Warren Township Public Library.

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