Helen K. Johnson

HELEN JOHNSON was born in Oklahoma but lived in Farwell Texas from the time she was three. She was the youngest of 8 kids and lived the life of what you might read about in a western novel. She not only could ride a horse by the time she was six but Helen was actually rounding up horses the family owned to prevent them from disturbing the cows. By the time she was nine she began breaking horses…..lots of them! She was bucked off many times but other than getting knocked unconscious once when her horse shied after spotting a snake, was never seriously injured. Helen had a favorite horse that often ate loco weed which made him run like the wind. She could out race everyone on that horse including her older brothers. She rode a mustang to get the mail a mile and a half up the rode every day. One day the mail man asked if she would deliver a box to a neighbor. It was a box containing a hundred baby chicks. She thought nothing of it, set the box in front of her on the saddle and rode off delivering the chicks unharmed. Life wasn’t easy in those days and Helen picked cotton in the hot sun often killing a rattle snake or two with a hoe. One day she reached into one of the hen’s nests to gather the eggs and discovered a bull snake in the nest eating the chicken eggs. The family also had a dairy. She helped milk the 30 cows and also helped separate the cream to sell.

During high school Helen played forward on the basketball team and also was on the volley ball team. She met her husband Bill in 1940. He worked on the Johnson ranch operating a thrasher machine. Bill took an interest in Helen and often watched her basketball games. They were married in 1941. Bill was drafted into the army and after his discharge in 1944 returned to Texas. The farm they lived on for 11 years had two irrigation wells. Bill was injured in a tractor accident and was forced to retire. Bill and Helen then moved to Redmond and bought 20 acres for $16,500. They built two houses and remained there until Bill became ill with Alzheimer disease requiring nursing home care.

Helen got her LPN license and worked as a psychiatric nurse at Fairfax hospital in Kirkland six years. She encountered many harrowing experiences with some of the patients. She then worked as a private duty nurse for a lady with muscular dystrophy for twelve years. Her patient’s parents even treated Helen and Bill to a month long vacation in Hawaii so that Helen could look after their daughter while there. Helen and Bill received red carpet treatment their entire stay. Helen retired when her patient passed away.

Helen and Bill became Sammamish Sam members in 1968 along with twelve other couples. The club received it’s charter membership in the Good Sam Club in 1974. Helen was president of our chapter in 1982-93 and vice president in 1981, 1992, 2000 and 2002.

Helen has been an active member of the Sammamish Sams for 39 years. Without a rig, and having a dog and two cats to tend, she could no longer attend our outings but she rarely missed a meeting, She had such wonderful stories to tell.

Helen passed away October 28, 2011 at the age of 89 years.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Funeral service in her honor on Friday, November 4, 2011 at 11:00, at the Lake Washington United Methodist Church, 7525 132nd Ave NE, Kirkland, Washington 98033. Visitation will be held Thursday, November 3, 2011 from 4:00 – 8:00 pm, at Sunset Hills Funeral Home 1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue, Washington 98007.

Arrangements under the direction of Sunset Hills Funeral Home, Bellevue, WA.