Grace Hamilton Johnson

Tuesday, September 8, 2015, Grace Pauline Pettit Hamilton Johnson went home to be with the Lord. She was 98 years old. Now we are left the privilege of summing up a life well-lived for almost a century and pray we honor her with every word we write here. Grace Pauline Pettit was born in Fairmount, Georgia, to Samuel Bennett Pettit and Stella Mae Teague on November 28, 1916, as World War I raged in Europe. She had an older brother, Tom, and later a younger brother, Ted. Stella Mae died in childbirth along with her fourth child when Grace was six years old. Grace’s father remarried a widow who had two sons and a daughter of her own: Bill, Paul, and Eloise. With the birth of two more daughters, Helen and Ruth, they became a family of ten. Grace’s father worked hard to support his family in the lean years of the 20’s and 30’s by farming, raising turkeys, working in a grocery store, and preaching in a small Baptist church on Sundays, where Grace’s faith was planted, took root, and grew. In 1926, Samuel moved his family to Union Hill, a small community near Breckenridge, Texas. A few years later, their house and all of their possessions, including mementos of her mother, burned to the ground. With the help of neighbors and friends, they started over in the nearby community of Necessity. The name of that small place became prophetic, because “necessity” was the driving force of Grace’s life for years afterward. Unhappy at home, Grace left at the age of 17 to live with the Cudd family who had seven sons. Ethel Cudd (Granny) needed Grace’s help with the smaller children, so Grace lived with them for three years. The Cudd family remained lifelong friends, and Granny Cudd considered Grace her daughter for the rest of her life. Grace married Gifford Othar Hamilton in 1936. They had three children: Charlene, Marsha Jean, and Samuel Theodore (Ted.) Gifford died in a gas line explosion in November of 1942, as World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific. Grace was left a widow with three children under the age of six. She bought a small farm in Weatherford, Texas with cows, pigs and chickens; leased the land to a neighboring farmer; found a wonderful woman (Granny Fletcher) to keep her small children; and went to work riveting airplane wings on B-24’s and transport planes at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft, later General Dynamics. Two years later, she became the dietician and cook for a 20-bed hospital. In 1945, Jim Johnson returned home from the war and went to visit Grace. They had known each other since junior high school in Breckenridge. Jim fell in love with Grace and her children and they with him. Jim and Grace married May 17, 1946, and moved to Abilene, Texas, where their daughter, Linda Sue, and son, David Charles, were born. They lived in the same house at 2402 Marshall Street from 1946 until they both moved into Assisted Living at Covenant Place on Buffalo Gap Road in March of 2011. Jim worked very hard to support his family, and Grace worked tirelessly alongside him. She worked for 25 years as a cook in the cafeterias of Madison Junior High and other schools, often making 40 pies before 11:30 AM. She was a wonderful cook, and her fried chicken was legendary in our family. Grace worked even harder at home, making clothes for her daughters, starching and ironing jeans and shirts for her sons, not to mention washing many athletic uniforms. She spent much of her life sitting on bleachers watching her children and grandchildren play baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, and tennis, play in bands, sing in choirs, and any other thing they loved to do. Somehow she also managed to keep a clean, orderly, inviting home and prepare wonderful home-cooked meals. Her table was open to all, as was her house. Grace was an excellent wife who put her husband first and anticipated his every need for 67 years. She was a wonderful, loving mother who put her children’s needs above her own and tirelessly sacrificed her time, energy, and resources for them. Grace’s greatest gift to us, her family, was her ability to understand, forgive, encourage, and unconditionally love us all. Grace had a deep and abiding faith in God, which was evident in her service to Brook Hollow Christian Church where she and Jim were faithful, serving members for 69 years. The night before she died, Grace was lying in her bed, ready to go to sleep, and we heard her saying the Lord’s Prayer, then praying for all the people she loved that were ill or hurting. She never preached to us or quoted scripture___ she just lived her faith quietly each and every day, honestly, humbly, and faithfully. That is her legacy to all of us, and it outweighs all the riches in the world. She was a Jewel to us, and we have no doubt that she is now a Jewel in heaven, shining bright. We will do our best to walk on the path you lit for us until we find our way to you again, when we will all live together forever in the light and love of our Lord and Savior. Grace was preceded in death by her parents; brothers and sisters; brothers and sisters-in-law; husband, Gifford; husband, Jim; granddaughter, Mechelle Rene Lassiter; and grandson, Douglas Wayne Miller. Grace is survived by her children and their spouses: Charlene (Hamilton) & Maurice McLeod of Abilene, TX; Marsha (Hamilton) & Carroll Lassiter of Dickinson, TX; Ted & Pat Hamilton of Carrollton, TX; Linda Miller of Fairview, TX & Gary Miller of Allen, TX; and David & Karen Johnson of Abilene, TX. She is also survived by her grandchildren and their spouses: Ken McLeod & Tonya; Paula (McLeod) & James Fehlieson; Cindy (Lassiter) & Mike Page; Lori (Lassiter) & Keith Boydston; Melissa Lassiter; Kim (Hamilton) & Dave Morden; Doug (deceased) & Melissa Miller; Bretta (Miller) & Davey Maldonado; Lacy (Johnson) & Craig Hay; and Lance & Kristin Johnson. Grace’s grandchildren will be pallbearers. Grace also has 15 beautiful great-grandchildren: Matt, David, Jase & Ben; Robby, Jeff, Eliza, Sebastian, Josh & Megan; Kaylen & Josey; Callie, Harper & Liam and 3 precious great-great grandchildren: Abigail, Marielle & Mason. Grace is also survived by her sister-in-law, Joy Pettit, and brothers-in-law, Billy & Gary Hamilton, and also her sister-in-law, Ann Hawkins, and many nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be held at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, September 12, in Elmwood Memorial Park. A memorial service will follow at 10:30 a.m. at Brook Hollow Christian Church with Rev. Penny Biddy officiating, directed by The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road in Abilene. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, September 11, at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis, Abilene, TX 79605, or a favorite charity.