Dot Johnson
Lillian Pauline (Dot) Taylor Johnson passed away on Monday, August 19, 2019.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” - Galatians 5:22-23.
Dot Johnson was born to Elton and Burma Taylor on April 25, 1925, in LaGrange, Ga. She was the fifth of seven children, and while she was officially named after her father’s twin sisters, Lillian and Pauline, she was so small when she was born that her parents said she was, “no bigger than a dot,” which is how she came to be known as Dot.
She attended LaGrange College for three years, receiving her secretarial science certificate, and then graduated from Mercer University, in 1946. While at Mercer, she was a member of the Alpha Iota chapter of Phi Mu Fraternity. She worked at Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly the summer after her graduation and there found her passion in working for Christ. She began work as the church secretary at First Baptist Church in Dalton, Ga., in September 1946. She felt a very special connection to the children and youth at the church and, therefore, chose to work in the education field as much as possible. After two years at the church, she went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in order to earn her MRE degree. She liked to say that she also earned her “MRS. degree” during her time at the seminary, by meeting her future husband, Reverend Cecil W. Johnson, and marrying him on June 29, 1949. They felt called to mission work and set off to Central America immediately following their wedding. (Dot loved telling the story that, upon hearing that she would take up foreign mission work after the marriage, her father remarked, “There are worse things than being unmarried.”)
During their time as missionaries, Dot and Cecil served in Medellìn, Columbia and Torreòn Coahuila, Mexico. Cecil taught in the seminary in these places while Dot worked with the youth through their local churches. They began their own family while serving in Mexico, with Dot returning to LaGrange twice to give birth to both of their daughters, Susan and Jeanne, and then by adopting their son, Efrain (Bain), from Mexico.
After several years in the mission field, they returned to Texas and started Green Acres Baptist Church. Dot always led in the children’s work of the church, serving as a kindergarten teacher and leading Sunday school. They moved to Chatsworth, Ga., where Cecil served as pastor of the First Baptist Church and Dot served in the children’s ministry for five and a half years. Dot said that she felt drawn to Chatsworth because of the “beautiful mountains, which were larger than any problems that one might face.” The family eventually moved to Cedartown, Ga., and served there at First Baptist, for nearly 17 years. During this time, Dot began teaching public school. She taught first grade and kindergarten for many years. In 1983, they made the move to Jekyll Island, Ga., where Cecil pastored the Baptist Chapel and worked on the staff of the First Baptist Church of Brunswick, Ga. Dot spent her time enlarging the children’s ministry on the island, while also enjoying playing tennis, bicycling, hosting coffee groups, cooking, and painting. Dot looked back on this time in her life with particular fondness.
After six years at Jekyll, they retired from official ministry service and decided to move to Dalton, Ga., to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They both substituted in Dalton public schools and felt a great sense of purpose and fulfillment in serving the community in that way. They also had a full and enriching life as members of the First Baptist Church of Dalton. They enjoyed being surrounded by their family and friends, and were very active in the lives of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Dot selflessly lived her life as a servant of Christ and it was so important to her that she lived in a way that reflected Christ’s love for us all. She did all that she could to spread that love to others. She was a true blessing and she will be greatly missed.
Dot is preceded in death by her husband, Cecil W. Johnson; her son, Bain Guillen Johnson; her parents, Elton and Burma Taylor; her brothers, Robert and Jimmy Taylor; her sisters, Frances Drake, Sara Nixon, Jean Clark, and Leta Poore; and her granddaughter, Helen Ledford (Ray).
She is survived by her two daughters, Susan Taylor (Lewis) of Ringgold, Ga. and Jeanne Varnell of Chattanooga, Tn.; her grandchildren, Ryan Hancock (Sarah), Nikki Varnell, Matt Varnell (Kassie), Lauren Cantrell (Nathan), Katie Varnell, Andrea Taylor, and Alicia Coffelt (Cody); and her great-grandchildren, Julianna Henson, Alder Hancock, Lilly Varnell, Noah Hancock, Anna Varnell, and Scott Ledford.
Visitation will be held at the First Baptist Church of Dalton Atrium on Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 12-2 p.m. and the memorial service will be held immediately afterwards, at 2 p.m.
Interment will follow at West Hill Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org), as this foundation was near to Dot’s heart.
“Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.” - Daniel 12:3 MSG