Eula Mae Johnson

In Loving Memory of Eula M. Johnson. August 27, 1926 - November 3, 2008. Services: Monday, November 10, 2008. Wake - 10:00 A.M. Funeral - 11:00 A.M. Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, 4501 South Vinncenes Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Denard Newell, Officiating. Ronald Brown, Organist. Obituary - Eula Mae Johnson was born on August 27, 1926 in Drew, Mississippi to the union of Eulis and Lucille Green Brooks. She was the younger of two children. She accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized at the Holly Grove Baptist Church. Eula spent her formative years attending school there in Drew and summers in Chicago. In 1944, she graduated valedictorian of her class from the Drew Colored High School. After graduation, Eula took up permanent residence in Chicago and enrolled in the Cortez Peters Business College where she completed the program in secretarial science. It was also during this period of time that she first joined the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church where she had remained a faithful, generous and active member throughout the years until her timely death. On March 17, 1946, she was united in marriage to her high school sweetheart, Willie Johnson who preceded her in death. To their union, three children were born: Jacqueline Elaine, Stanley Warren and Sharon Doreen. Eula was a homemaker prior to entering the workforce. She began her twenty-eight year work career as a secretary for the I. Miller Shoe Firm located within Bonwit Teller Stores. She was the first black person to hold a position within the offices of this firm. She quickly rose through the ranks at I. Miller advancing from secretary to bookkeeper to executive secretary. She retired from her position there in 1990 and remained in semi-retirement until 1992 when she became an administrative assistant with the City of Chicago Department of Aging in the personnel division. She received her Bachelors in Religious Education from the Chicago Baptist Institute in 1955, and her Masters Degree in Religious Education in 1962 from the same institution. Eula was gifted with a beautiful soprano voice which she used to minister in song as a member of both the Angelic Choir and Gospel Chorus at Ebenezer. She served on the Usher Board and was a member of the Busy Bee Club, The Flower Circle, the Junior Women and the Senior Women Mission #2. She served as Executive Director of the Midwest Youth Conference affiliate of the National Baptist Convention. She sang soprano for twenty-six years with the Greater Bethesda Baptist Church Production of the Messiah. She served as President of the Senior Christian Unity District, and Chairman of Finance of the Illinois National Baptist State Convention upon demise. On Monday, November 3, 2008 at 3:15 pm at South Suburban Hospital Hospice Unit, Eula transitioned home. Her last words were, "I have been faithful and I have done everything God has asked me to do and I am ready to go home." Eula was preceded in death by her son Stanley, her daughter Sharon and her brother Willie Green. She leaves to cherish her memory: one daughter ~ Mrs. Jacqueline (Lem) Newell; three grandsons ~ Mr. Jason Newell (Tamara), Mr. Brandon Newell and Mr. Keith Newell; one granddaughter ~ Mrs. Michelle McKee; ten great-grandchildren; two great great grandchildren; two nieces ~ Mrs. Doris (Ray) Steed and Dr. Lisa Green (Charles) Hill; two nephews ~ Mr. Michael Green and Mr. Louis (Heidi) Green; one play daughter ~ Ms. Pat Gross; and host of other relatives and friends. Order of Service: Organ Prelude; Processional; Invocation; Scripture - Psalms 121; Prayer; Selection/Solo - Combined Choir; Acknowledgement of Cards and Telegrams; Remarks - 1st Vice President Delores Lacey SWMU, Former President Alma Boykins, Illinois National Baptist State Convention; Tributes - Dorothy Snow & Jason Newell; Solo - Henry Carroll; Obituary - Hilda Saunders; Selection/Solo - Combined Choir; Eulogy - Rev. Dr. Joel Taylor, President Illinois National Baptist State Convention; Benediction; Recessional. Interment - Lincoln Cemetery, 12300 South Kedzie, Chicago, Illinois 60655. Repast - Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church. A Tribute to Sister Eula Johnson (by Sister Dorothy M. Snow, 2005), President of the Senior Women's Missionary Union of the Christian Fellowship Baptist District Association. Pallbearers: Jason Newell, Brandon Newell, Keith Newell, Phillip Steed, Louis Green, Edward Curry. Honorary Pallbearers: Lem Newell, Raymond Steed, Fred Robinson, Michael Green, Robert Nalls, Henry Lee. Arrangements Entrusted To: Leak and Sons Funeral Chapels, 7838 S. Cottage Grove, Chicago, IL 60619.