Lakeside resident Marni Johnson died in a local clinic on October 13 at the age of 86.
Born Margaret Dorothy Hoover in Muskegon, Michigan on December 3, 1926, Johnson was educated at Western Michigan University and moved to Chicago to become a social worker. There she met Henry Grady Johnson, a pharmacist and jazz musician. They were married in 1955 and produced three children. They divorced in 1963.
Johnson worked for the University of Chicago as well as the Journal of the American Medical Association as a proofreader for many years. She traveled the world and wrote travel articles. Though she was keenly interested in other cultures, Mexico was particularly special to her because of her fascination with the Maya.
She also loved literature and art and while in Mexico, many of her paintings reflected the Maya culture.
She retired and moved to Guadalajara in 1992 and then on to the Lake Chapala area which she loved for its population of artists and writers. She was very connected to the American Legion in Guadalajara and in Chapala. She always remained passionate about writing, with membership in both the Chapala and the Ajijic writers’ groups. She was also an avid bridge player.
Johnson wrote a regular column for the Lake Chapala Review, articles for El Ojo del Lago and a number of short stories.
Her last years included illness and she had recently learned that she had cancer.
She is survived by her daughters Lisa Page of Washington, D.C., and Leslie Piotrowski of the Chicago area and her son, Christopher Johnson, also of Chicago. Her grandchildren were Jonathon Piotrowski and Grady Page.
A memorial service was held in Johnson’s honor on October 19 at American Legion Post Seven in Chapala.