Artist, adventurer, storyteller, and friend to all, Mary Ellen “Mitzi” Johnson passed away at The Village at the Harbor, June 7, 2024. She was born in Paterson, NJ, February 24, 1942, the youngest of the three Taintor sisters. She attended Bucknell University and graduated from the Newark School of Art and Industrial Design with a degree in Fine Art/Fashion Illustration.
Mitzi’s early flamboyant years saw her as a fashion illustrator in New York and New Jersey and as the Art Director for the luxurious Bal Harbour shops in Miami, Florida. She won numerous awards for her work as an illustrator and artist. Mitzi traded her fashionista lifestyle for a more home-spun existence in the mountains of Colorado after she met, fell in love, and married David “Bear” Johnson after a ski trip to Vail in 1972. Mitzi was always quick to note that Bear was of the “Teddy Bear” variety and “one of the kindest people I have ever met.” They shared a love of adventure, travel, antiques and spontaneity. They didn’t take themselves too seriously and brought out the child in others.
Serendipitously hired as the Advertising Manager of the San Juan Journal (during a sailing charter trip), Mitzi and Bear moved to San Juan Island in 1983 to start their next adventure.
Substituting sailing for skiing as a hobby, Mitzi and Bear were members of the Friday Harbor Sailing Club and the San Juan Island Yacht Club. Mitzi’s imagination and creativity shown through everything she touched, from decorating a cake to the “Teddy Bear” cruises she chaired for the Yacht Club. Everyone, no matter how stodgy, had to bring a teddy bear to participate; the cruises were legendary!
An avid reader, Mitzi belonged to a local book club for decades. She was a proud member of the local chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a founding member of the local chapter of Soroptimists International. Mitzi was also instrumental in the fundraising effort to purchase the Susan Point Coast Salish house posts at the Port of Friday Harbor’s waterfront park.
Mitzi and Bear had the gift of making friends wherever they went and were not shy about telling their many stories of adventure and misadventure, including Mitzi’s story of being hijacked to Cuba.
Predeceased in 2018 by Bear, after 45 years of marriage, Mitzi is survived by her stepdaughter Lisa Hammond (David); stepson, Kenneth Johnson (Alexandra Latham); granddaughter Keegan Hammond-Walters (Jonathan); grandson Benjamin (Ruoxi Yu) and great-granddaughter Harper and many far-flung nieces and nephews.
Family and friends wish to thank the kind staff at The Village at the Harbor, for making Mitzi’s final years so comfortable. Mitzi and Bear were a gift to the community and are greatly missed by those whose lives they touched. A celebration of life was held December 7th, many thanks to the San Juan Island Yacht Club and all who attended.