Idilia Johnston passed in her sleep on December 1, 2021, after a short stay in a local hospital. Idilia was 97 years old, a former Rosie the Riveter and a USN WAVE during WWII. Predeceased by her husband, George J Johnston, in 1996, Idilia is survived by: her sister, Andy Patschke, (Pinetop, AZ); three sons, George (Annie, DeRidder, LA), Gordon (Maggie, Taos. NM), and Glenn (Mary Jane, Lutherville, MD); four grandsons, Shawn Johnston (Samantha, DeRidder, LA) and Andrew also of that town, Craig Johnston (Nicole, Columbia, MD) and Jeremy Johnston (Mariel, Queens, NY); a great-grandson Wyatt and a great grand-daughter, Aurora.

Born Idilia Ann Spence in 1924 to Scottish immigrant parents, her father was the construction supervisor for Terminal Tower in Cleveland. Growing up in Depression-era Cleveland, Idilia, or “Scotty” as she was known, developed into a headstrong young woman. Never one to buckle to her parent’s “old world” demands, as a young woman Scotty ran away from home and cruised the Great Lakes on a steamer, worked as a Rosie the Riveter bookkeeper at a defense plant in WWII, and then joined the Navy.

While in the Navy, Idilia met her husband, George, a USN seaplane pilot in the Pacific. They married in 1945, and moved to George’s family homestead on Staten Island. There, Idilia gave birth to her three sons while George worked at Burroughs Business Machines on Wall Street. Both were very active with Calvary Presbyterian Church, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts. In the early 1960s, Idilia and George opened a locksmith shop on Staten Island. Idilia was in charge of running the store, and keeping the books. It was while in that role that Idilia commonly dealt with such famous figures as "Big Paul" Castellano, Fred Trump, and the Archbishop of New York.

In 1983, Idilia and George retired to Corvallis, OR, where they lived for 10 years during which time Idilia was very involved as a leader with the Presbyterian Women of the Cascades. She and George later moved closer to family in East Aurora, NY where Idilia joined the East Aurora Senior Center, the First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora, and served as a guide for the Millard Fillmore Museum house. George passed in 1996 following the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary.

In September 2001, Idilia moved in to Southlake, TX , with her son Glenn’s family. There, she engaged with the Southlake Senior Center and the Red Hats Society. Coincident with the family’s move to Lutherville, MD in 2006, Idilia was became an active member of BYKOTA Senior Center in Towson, founded a Writing Club, and joined the local Rosie the Riveter association in Middle River.

Idilia’s final move was to College Manor, an assisted care facility in Lutherville in October 2020. There she volunteered to help lead the association of residents in their quarterly meetings and enjoyed participating in the daily activities. She will forever be remembered as living up to her philosophy, “Bloom where you’re planted!”.

For her work as a Rosie, Idilia was a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal.

Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Maryland Native Plant Society, P. O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD 20914 or https://mdflora.org/donate

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