Public Employee Press

Rep's mother celebrates 103 years

Born in 1909 in Waynesboro, North Carolina, Louise Johnson grew up in the segregated South. "My father was self-educated and he had a little farm. He was very smart and it was recognized," she told PEP. On Feb. 11, she celebrated her 103rd birthday with her son, Local 1549 Secretary-Treasurer and Grievance Rep Gerald Johnson.

"She never smoked, never drank, and I never heard her curse," said Gerald.

In 1934 she met husband Jonathan Johnson and joined the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, where she supervised the Sunday school for 16 years. She raised four children of her own and a niece and nephew, and supplemented her husband's MTA salary by doing domestic work.

In 2008, Louise and Gerald voted for Barack Obama. "I never thought that I would live to see an African American president," she said.

The next year she got a letter from the White House, wishing her a happy 100th birthday. "You have witnessed great milestones in American history throughout your century of life, and your personal story represents an important piece of the American narrative," wrote Michele and Barack Obama.