Obituaries : Irene Rose Johnson; Longtime County Resident

Irene Rose Johnson, a Ventura County resident for more than 60 years and a former cook for the Hueneme Elementary School District, has died. She was 84.

Johnson died of cancer Friday.

Born in Joplin, Mo., in 1911, Johnson received her high school diploma through a school run by the local Odd Fellows Lodge.

She married Luther E. Johnson in 1931, and the couple had a son, Richard, before moving to Ventura County three years later in search of work.

The couple first settled in Port Hueneme, where Johnson opened a beauty shop called Irene’s Beauty Salon. The couple later moved to Oxnard.

In the 1970s, Johnson went to work as a cook at Ansgar Larsen Elementary School in Port Hueneme and later Hollywood Beach Elementary School in Oxnard.

“She loved to cook and she loved being around children,” said June Johnson, Irene Johnson’s daughter-in-law and a Ventura resident. “She also loved the job because she got off early and had summers off.”

When not at work or with her family, Irene Johnson socialized with members of the Ladies Auxiliary, Fraternal Order of Eagles, in Oxnard, where she was an organist for more than 20 years.

“She was a very strong woman,” June Johnson said. “She was a very jovial woman. She took life as it came.”

Johnson was preceded in death by her husband and son. In addition to June Johnson, Irene Johnson is survived by four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Pierce Brothers Griffin Chapel in Camarillo. Burial at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park will follow the service. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Camarillo.