Zelmaree Underwood Johnson

Zelmaree Underwood Johnson was born June 8, 1921 near Hampton, Arkansas, as the fifth child of Frances Tenala Pearce Underwood and Christopher Columbus Morrison Underwood. She was eight months old when, legend has it, her father was ambushed on his way into town to testify in a criminal trial. It was a terrible loss, forcing her mother to become the family’s sole provider. Many hated days were spent picking cotton. She had to quit school after the fifth grade because then there were no school buses for the rural children and she had to contribute to the family income. Zelma loved reading and got the education she missed. She was given a used Bible at an early age, and Christianity became her touchstone for life. In bad times in her adult life, her faith was the source of her strength. When she wanted to enroll in a college-level Bible class and was told she would need a high school diploma to enroll, she lost no time in getting a GED. With her General Education Diploma in hand, she enrolled and passed the course with high marks. She used her training to enrich the lessons she taught as a Sunday school teacher. She taught for over 60 years, ending her career at the First Baptist Church in Florien. To summarize a life of 96 years is a daunting task. What to say? What to leave out? Here is what mattered to her: Faith, family, friends, gardening, fresh flowers in the house, reading, word play, cooking and eating especially sweets, fishing, dressing fashionably, travel and adventure, writing especially poetry, television westerns and “The Andy Griffith Show” especially Barney Fife, wildlife, and pine trees. Zelma’s soul broke free of her failing body and mind in the early hours of February 26, 2018. She was preceded in her transition by her mother and father; beloved playmate and partner, Gilbert Albert “Johnny” Johnson; three of her children, David Ray Hill, Richard Allen Hill, and Vickie Jones Dean; all her sisters and brothers, and grandchildren, Jordan Nasrawi and Lyndie Morgan Scales. She is survived by her children, both born-of and step, Ann Hill Dzuik of Wimberley, Texas, Reatha Hill Nasrawi of Cypress, Texas, Reba Sue Hill Murphy of Balch Springs, Texas, Hollis Hill of Hallsville, Texas, Chris Johnson of Hornbeck, and Mary Johnson Griffin of Orange, Texas; 18 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild; as well as nieces, nephews, a cousin or two, and numerous friends. Mrs. Johnson was interred in Florien Cemetery on Friday, March 2 following a memorial service at First Baptist Church in Florien.