ROCKINGHAM — Caroline S. Johnson, 98, died peacefully at Reid Heart Center in Pinehurst, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
She was born June 12, 1924, in High Point, the youngest of 13 siblings.
She received an associate degree in business from Elon University in 1942 and worked as a civilian secretary for the U.S. Army at Camp Mackall in North Carolina.
Caroline met her late husband, Paul B. Johnson, who was stationed at Camp Mackall, after her family invited him to their house for Sunday dinner when he was visiting during a church service. During World War II, Caroline worked in Washington, D.C., for an Army colonel and lived in a boarding house in Alexandria, Virginia. After Paul returned from the war, he surprised Caroline at 7 a.m. at her boarding house and proposed to her while she was still wearing her hair curlers.
Caroline was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Paul B. Johnson; parents, Marion A. Smith and Annie Jones Smith; siblings, Walter Smith, Jack M. Smith, Joe B. Smith, Robert G. Smith, Edwin J. Smith, Charles E. Smith, Fred G. Smith, Horace J. Smith, Mollie S. Beroth, Mattie S. Ratliff, Emma S. Dillon and Annie Belle S. Thompson.
Left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Jo Anne Cutrer of Ocean Isle Beach; son, Gerald Johnson, and his wife, Carol, of Haymarket, Virginia. Caroline is also survived by six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at First Methodist Church, 410 E Washington St., Rockingham. Following will be a graveside burial at Eastside Cemetery in Rockingham. Relatives and friends are welcome to attend.
The family wishes to express sincere thanks for the years of loving care from special caregiver and dear friend Lydia Mabe. The family would also like to thank the staff at Brookdale Pinehurst for the compassionate care Caroline received over the last year, as well as the hospital staff who provided empathetic and dignified care for her during her final days of life.
Online condolences may be made at watson-kingfuneralhome.com. Watson-King Funeral Home in Rockingham is serving the Johnson family.
