Charlotte R. 'Charli' Johnson

Charlotte R. ‘Charli’ Johnson, 69, longtime Moses Lake resident, passed away Tuesday, July 14, 2009, at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake as a result of her long fight with lung disease.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at the Moses Lake First Presbyterian Church with Dr. Paul Wagner officiating. Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel and Crematory, Moses Lake.

You may sign the guest book or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com.

Charlotte was born November 17, 1939, to Wayne C. and Ethel M. (Mungall) Wallace in Lewistown, Montana. She moved with her family to Moses Lake when she was a young child. She was raised and educated in Moses Lake, graduating from Moses Lake High School in 1957. She met Vernon R. Johnson when he was stationed at Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, and they were married on August 30, 1958. Vern was then reassigned to Kingsley Field Air Force Base in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where their first two children, Randy and Wendy were born. Upon Vern’s retirement from the Air Force, they returned to Moses Lake, where their last two children, Johnny and Darla were born. Vern and Charli raised their family in Moses Lake and have lived here ever since. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year with a gathering at their daughter Wendy’s house.

The last few years, until her retirement in 2004, she was an educational assistant in a kindergarten classroom at Knolls Vista Elementary School. One of the many highlights of her life she listed in her 50th class reunion memory book was “The gratification knowing that you’ve had a hand in helping those little minds learn, and seeing the progress they made from the beginning of the school year when they come in crying because they don’t want their mothers to leave them, until the end of the school year when they leave kindergarten with such self confidence, and all those light bulb moments in between.”

Charli was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She was a patient teacher and a faithful friend. She always put others ahead of herself and we could always count on her for encouragement and her positive attitude. We will always remember her infectious smile and her sense of humor. She loved working in her huge back yard, which we were all convinced she was trying to turn into a miniature Ohme Gardens. You could always count on her to have a camera handy too – usually with the lens cap off, and usually with film in it.

She is survived by her loving husband of 51 years, Vern, her son Randy and his wife Tammy, her daughter Wendy Erickson and granddaughter Audrey, her daughter Darla Hubbard and grandson Cameron and her grandchildren Ryan and Jordan Hubbard and Stephanie Duvall. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Waynette and by her son Johnny in 1993.

Goodbye for now, Sweetheart, Mom, Grandma. We will always love you and we will never forget you.