(April 17, 1932-June 17, 2026)

In April of 1932, Judith Ann Mathews Johnson was born to Joseph Thomas Mathews and Mary Elizabeth Walsh in Selma, North Carolina. The eldest of four siblings, James, Betty and Virginia, the four Mathews kids were raised in the Southern Baptist Church where Sunday School was regularly attended, resulting in an early education and religious belief that she carried through her life.

After graduating from Wake Forest University, she married Philip Ray Johnson of Richmond, Virginia, in 1953. A member of Bainbridge Steet Baptist Church, and Newington Baptist Church in Gloucester, she and her husband were devoted choir members and expressed their profound love for music through song. They were parents to three children, Kathy, Courtney and Craig. As a family of five, they enjoyed traveling, coastal life and embracing their faith.

Professionally, Judy was a schoolteacher and then retired from the Virginia Department of Health. Retiring to Gloucester, Virginia, where she and her husband enjoyed life along the Piankatank River, gardening her prized hydrangea garden and retail therapy were her additional passions. Judy’s smile influenced others and only enhanced her social events that she enjoyed hosting. Even until her passing in the early morning hours of June 17, she welcomed all with a beautiful smile and bright blue eyes that could light up the room.

She is additionally survived by her son-in-law, Doug Williams, husband to Kathy; four grandchildren, Heather, Katy, John and Alpay, and great-grandchildren, Ashley, Danielle, Josephine, Quest, Veda, and Norah.

A memorial service was held at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 3215 Cutshaw Avenue in Richmond. The family received friends one hour prior to the service. A private burial will be held at the Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Amelia, where she will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband of 72 years.