Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Johnson

Elizabeth “Betty” Johnson died June 3, 2025, at age 85. She was the daughter of the late Sterling and Ruth Fowler of Taneytown, MD.

Betty attended the University of Maryland where she met and married her late husband of 50 years Paul T. Johnson. She was one of the co-founders of Huntsville Group Home for Girls, a half-way house for girls from Alabama State Training School for Girls. This was established to get the girls back into school and back into productive members of society. Her duties were to hire and give support to the house parents as well as to communicate with the community through television, newspaper, and speaking engagements to raise funds in support of this nonprofit endeavor.

She was an active member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church for many years before returning to her roots in the Catholic Church. Betty was a member of the Alabama Training Network, part of the Department of Christian Education of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. She traveled in the Southeast leading workshops in communication skills, leadership skills, and vacancy consultation for Episcopal Churches in Alabama.

Betty was an organizational development consultant to several businesses in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. She led life planning workshops for people struggling with divorce and other major changes in their lives.

In 1985 she and her husband Paul bought and restored an 1886 home on Boonshill Road in Fayetteville, and opened Old Cowan Plantation Bed and Breakfast, the first B&B in Fayetteville. She closed the B&B in 2013 after 28 years and retired.

Betty was a devoted mother and grandmother and was always there when needed. She enjoyed needlework and travel.

Survivors include her sons, Thomas Johnson of Fayetteville, and Jeffrey Johnson of Huntsville, AL; grandchildren, Jonathan Trey Johnson of Dallas, TX, Kasey Lauren Johnson of Huntsville, Jonica Ann Johnson of Waukee, IA, Reeanna Renea Johnson of San Diego, CA; sisters, Patricia (James) Scott of Taneytown, MD, Mary (Richard) Frounfelter of Westminster, MD, Jane (Richard) Keilholtz of Taneytown, MD; brother, Michael Fowler, Taneytown, MD; and a nephew and two nieces.

Visitation with the family will be on Friday, June 6, 2025, at the home on 126 Boonshill Road, Fayetteville, TN from 2 PM until 8 PM. Funeral mass will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at St. Anthony Catholic Church with Reverend Father George Panthananickal presiding. Burial will be next to her husband at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Cemetery in Taneytown, MD at 11 AM on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 with Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home assisting.

Higgins Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Elizabeth “Betty” Johnson.