Marguerite Johnson 1891-1978

JOHNSON, WILKER, RILEY

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 11/27/2021 at 07:39:10

October 12, 1978 - Midland Times

Marguerite Wilker Johnson, once a rural schoolteacher near Wyoming, died Oct. 3 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

After a funeral in Canada on Oct. 5, services were held at the Wyoming United Methodist Church on Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. with Rev. Loren Simpson officiating.

Burial was in the Wyoming Cemetery.

Pallbearers were John Hughes, William Hughes, Stanley Allen, John Eichhorn, Melvin Sievers and William Reade.

Johson, 87, was born in Toronto on Sept. 23, 1891, to William and Minnie Fawthrop Wilker. She taught rural school near Wyoming and then went on to receive her masters and doctor of philosophy (PhD.) degree at the University of Wisconsin.

From 1929 to 1930, she held the post of Professional Teacher at Ithaca, NY. She then was a professor at Ann Arbor, from 1930 to 1934, directing the pre-school area.

During this period, Johnson collaborated in compiling material for five books describing the verbal influence on the behavior of children.

In 1934 she married Edward Johnson, a timber company owner, and retired from teaching. The couple made their home in Toronto, Port Arthur and Fort William until her husband's death in 1952.

In 1934, an article appeared in Time magazine which outlined her magnetic influence on child behavior. She was also a committee member of the first child welfare conference called for by President Herbert Hoover at the White House.

She is survived by one sister, Mrs. Mary Ann Riley, Campbell, CA; nine nieces and nephews; and four great-nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents, husband, one brother and two sisters.