ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—On June 21, a memorial service was held for one of Englewood’s most revered citizens, Joan Van Alstyne Johnson, who passed away on March 30 at age 92. Johnson lived in Englewood all her life and her family history in the community goes back to the turn of the 20th century.
Johnson was an active volunteer in a wide range of community service in Englewood for more than 50 years, beginning as a teenager when she worked as a candy striper at Englewood Health. Her parents started a home school that developed into the Elisabeth Morrow School (EMS) and Joan was an alumna, teacher, and active trustee of EMS for 52 years. She also spent 12 years on the board of directors of the Dwight School for Girls, now part of Dwight-Englewood.
She was known for her enormous philanthropy (donating to over 50 charities each year) and for her hands-on involvement in social work, education and political activities. She was past president of the Woman’s Club of Englewood and served as chairman of its conservation and outreach committees. She was also a board member of Memorial House, predecessor to the Social Services Federation; the Leonard Johnson Day Nursery (known today as the Bergen Family Center); Flat Rock Brook Nature Center; the Community Chest of Englewood; and the Garden Club, among others.
Johnson also became involved in founding the Bergen County Anorexia Group, which became a national organization.
She often said, “Giving is what makes my life worth living.”
The scope and importance of Johnson’s philanthropic work was chronicled in the recently published book, “Extraordinary Englewood.” [Editor’s note: The book was written by this reporter, Hillary Viders, based on her column of the same name in Northern Valley Press.]
Johnson raised six children—David, Sam, Keats, Kate, Susan and Kim—and has 10 grandchildren in six different states coast to coast. At her memorial service on June 21, her family and friends shared wonderful stories and recollections of the “glamorous” and “fearless” Joan.
Mayor Michael Wildes drafted an Englewood Resolution in Johnson’s honor and copies were presented to all six children who had come from all over the U.S.
The service, conducted by Rev. Richard Hong, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Englewood, was held under a large tent at the Graham Field at the Dwight-Englewood School. Several hundred residents and dignitaries came to pay their respects and share memories, including New Jersey Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, Mayor Wildes and numerous community leaders.
A joint resolution from the New Jersey Senate and Assembly on behalf of Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Assemblyman Johnson honored Joan’s memory and expressed sympathy to her family.
Attendees at the memorial service had been asked to dress in Johnson’s favorite color, blue, and they did so to such an extent that the area looked like a beautiful blue sea.
Johnson’s son, David Rankin Johnson, hosted an array of tributes by friends and family members that were filled with humor as well as sentiment. He began with his own moving remarks.
“Mom meant so many things to so many different people,” he related. “My grandmother, Janet Van Alstyne, used to say that death cannot extinguish spiritual fire, and that was very clear with my mom.”
With tears in his eyes, Rodney V. De Jarnett, head of the Dwight-Englewood School, pronounced, “Joan exemplified the last three words of our mission statement: ‘Make It Better.’ Joan, this is what you did for this school, this community and the world around us. Thank you for making it better!”