Marilyn Johnson MD

Marilyn Johnson, M.D., 87 of Rockport, Texas went to be with her Lord on the 16th of June. Dr. Johnson was born in Houston where she graduated valedictorian from Stephen F. Austin High School, 1942 receiving the George Washington University Medal for Excellence. In 1945, Dr. Johnson obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Rice Institute. She attended Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston where she studied under the infamous Dr. DeBakey. She was made an honorary member of Theta Kappa Psi fraternity for tutoring students in the lower third of her class. Marilyn Johnson received her M.D. degree from Baylor Med in June 1950 and did her internship at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Massachusetts, an affiliate of Tufts Medical School. She treated cancer patients for five years at M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute. Dr. Johnson received the degree F.A.C.O.G. (Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology). She practiced obstetrics and gynecology and primary care medicine for twenty-seven years in Houston, where she was on the active staff of eight hospitals. She was appointed gynecologist for the De Pelchin Faith Home and the Richmond State School.

Dr. Johnson became a member of the American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, the Houston OB-Gyn Society, the American Medical Women’s Association, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Alpha Epsilon Iota, and the Baptist Church. She was an advocate for pro-life for the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and on the National Board of the Right to Life Advocates and made medical director of Birthright in Houston. In 1978 she was blinded from fallen retinas and her vision was miraculously restored by the grace of God, and her dear friend, retinal specialist, Dr. Alice McPhearson. In 1980 she was hospitalized five times with pneumonia, therefore moved to Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill country, which had a better climate and her good health returned. She felt God call her back to practice in spite of the fact the town had never had a woman physician, nor specialist of any kind. She practiced in Fredericksburg for fifteen years. She was the chief of the medical staff of the Hill Country Memorial Hospital from 1990 to 1992.

Dr. Johnson has been honored in numerous books over the past thirty years, including Who’s Who in Houston, Notable Women of Texas, Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in International Medicine, Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century, and The First Five Hundred. She was named International Woman of the Year in 1992 and 1995. In 1998 she retired to her home by the sea in a bird sanctuary in Rockport, Texas, where she enjoyed writing poetry and short stories about her most interesting patients, travels, and life experiences.

Dr. Marilyn Johnson is preceded in death by her parents, William W. Johnson and Marie H. Johnson, her brother Bill Johnson and close friend, Ruth Laird. She is survived by her youngest brother, Jerome Johnson and wife Lydia, sister-in-law Mary Johnson, six nieces and nephews, many cousins and great nieces and nephews. She lost contact with many of her patients through the years but had lots of fond memories of the friendships she made with them.

A celebration of Dr. Marilyn’s life will be Thursday, June 21st at 2pm with a viewing prior to the service from 12 to 2pm at Forest Park Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale Ave., in Houston. In lieu of remembrances, contributions in memory of Dr. Johnson may be directed to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center or a charity of choice.