Kathryn Haggerty Johnson, 105, passed away peacefully on February 5, 2023 at Millcroft Living in Newark Delaware. Kathryn was born in Marshallton, Delaware in 1917 to the late James and Kathryn Haggerty. She moved to Wilmington at the age of 7 and was married to Ralph S. Johnson Sr. in 1942. Kathryn graduated from Wilmington High School in 1936 and from Women’s College of the University of Delaware in 1940 with a degree in Education.

Kathryn, or Kay as she was known to her many friends, had a passion for teaching, especially at the primary school level. After brief teaching assignments in New Castle, Wilmington, and in Georgia during World War 2, she accepted a position in what was then the Stanton School District (later Red Clay) where she taught first grade for over 30 years. She kept in touch with many of her college classmates over the years and looked forward to attending reunion activities on the Delaware campus. One of her favorite activities after she retired from teaching was volunteering at Urban Promise of Wilmington where she would read to and work one on one with students.

Kathryn had a strong faith in God and was a long time member of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Stanton and later at Westminster Presbyterian in Wilmington. She had a passion for travel, visiting many countries over the years, with a favorite destination of anywhere in Ireland. She spent every summer for over 50 years at her seashore cottage in Wildwood Crest N.J. where she spent many hours on the beach reading the books and articles she had collected over the previous winter. A big fan of live theater, Kay frequently traveled to New York to catch a show and regularly attended events at The Resident Ensemble Players of The University of Delaware.

ln addition to her parents, Kathryn is preceded in death by her husband, Ralph S. Johnson Sr., her son Kenneth Wayne Johnson and his wife, Claudia, and her brothers John Haggerty and James Richard Haggerty.

Kathryn is survived by her sons: Ralph S. Johnson Jr. and his wife Susan, and Randall Johnson and his wife Teresa. ln addition she is survived by grandchildren: Michael Johnson (Debra), Noelle Herrman (Michael), Janene Ebaugh (Eric), Shannon Dunn (Jonathan), Jake McGough, Margaret McGough (Daniel), and eight great grandchildren.

A service will be held on Monday, February 13, 2023 at 7:00 PM at R.T. Foard & Jones Funeral Home – 122 W Main Street, Newark, DE. The family will begin receiving friends at 6:00 PM. Burial will be private.

ln lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Urban Promise of Wilmington, P.O. Box 326, Wilmington, DE 19899.