Rosamond Taylor Darden Johnson: A Life Well Lived

Rosamond Taylor Darden Johnson left this world peacefully on December 5, 2016. Fittingly, she was surrounded with love by members of her family, as family always took priority in her life.

 

Rosamond was the third of four children born to the union of Alvin Hawkins Darden and Elsie Taylor Darden in Shelbyville, Indiana. She attended the Shelbyville Public Schools and Fisk University.  A life-long lover of literature and art, she worked at Fisk with Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes in compiling their 1949 anthology, The Poetry of the Negro, 1746-1949. 

On August 15, 1947 she married Charles S. Johnson, Jr.  Following Charles’ graduation from Meharry Medical College and the completion of his post-graduate work at Lincoln Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, the couple settled in Dayton, Ohio. She served her community as a volunteer with institutions as diverse as the Dayton Art Institute and Dayton Children’s Hospital. She was also an active member of the Dayton chapters of the Sophisticates, the Carousels, Jack & Jill, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated, and myriad other clubs and associations.

Rosamond provided a nurturing presence to friends and relatives alike. Successive generations of young people came to regard her as their favorite “aunt” and, in turn, each “niece” or “nephew” came to believe that he or she was her personal favorite.  When she spotted you arriving at family gatherings, she would open her arms wide, wanting to give you a big hug – no words were needed.  To all visitors, she would point with pride at her refrigerator door in Dayton wallpapered with business cards of her children, nieces, nephews and grands. Seldom appearing to think of her own needs, she constantly rejoiced in the successes and accomplishments of those around her, particularly when those accomplishments helped to make the world a better place.

Rosamond was preceded in death by her late husband, Charles S. Johnson, Jr.; siblings, Alice Veneta Darden Scott (Lawrence), Ethel Darden Starks (Douglas) and Alvin H. Darden, Jr.; grand-daughter-in-law Kira Dixon Johnson; and in-laws Robert Burgette Johnson, (Edith) and Patricia Johnson Clifford (Maurice). She is survived by her children Charles S. Johnson III (Sondra) and Winifred Marie Johnson; grandchildren Charles S. Johnson IV, Christopher Lawrence Johnson, Courtney Nicole Uche (Ugwu) and Colin Taylor Burnett; great-grandchildren Madison Corinne Howard, Ansley Laurel Howard, Charles S. Johnson V and Langston Emile Johnson; in-laws Jeh Vincent Johnson (Norma), Gloria Darden; and by a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.