Doris L. Johnson

Doris Louise Johnson, born on December 31, 1934 in Boston, MA, passed away on March 26, 2014 in Norwood.  She was the daughter of Clarence and Elin (Johnson) Johnson.  Doris graduated from Roslindale High School in 1951; Simmons College 1955; Boston University, School of Education in 1979; and did graduate work in microbiology at U Mass Amherst.  Shortly after graduating from Simmons, Doris worked at the State Diagnostic Laboratory in Jamaica Plain in the Bacteriology Laboratory  for the diagnosis of communicable diseases.  In 1961 Doris took a leave of absence to become Director of Youth and Parish Education at the Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL, through the Lutheran Ministries where she worked with disadvantaged teenagers.   Shortly after returning to her job she was promoted to Senior Supervisor in the Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Program.  She and her team sought ways to reduce advances of tuberculosis.   She was later appointed Director of the Massachusetts Laboratory Improvement Program where she and her staff conducted and set up proficiency testing, services, lectures and workshops to accomplish these objectives.  From a young age Doris spent time on Nantucket Island.  She worked summers during college at the old Nantucket  Cottage Hospital.  Years later she would buy a cottage and spent many happy vacations on the island.   Doris belonged to the Aquilo Club of Boston and The Weavers Guild of Boston.  She enjoyed  dyeing her own yarn and weaving.  Her other interests was genealogy, locating family histories for family and friends.  She traveled numerous times to Sweden to visit relatives as well as hosting Swedish relatives as they studied in the Boston area.  She was a godmother to many children of family and friends.   Doris was a long time member of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Norwood.  She will be missed by her cousins and friends.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service on Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 11:00 AM at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 24 Berwick St., Norwood, MA  02062.  Interment will be private.  In lieu of flowers donations in her memory may be made to the Emmanuel Lutheran Church to address listed above or to Simmons College, Office of Advancement, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA  02115.