Imogene Hope Garrison Johns, on her 90th birthday, peacefully entered into her Savior’s arms on October 16, 2022, surrounded by family, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Born in Burlington, North Carolina on October 16, 1932, to William Long Boston Garrison and Clara Rebecca Trollinger, she grew up on the family farm. She graduated from Altamahaw-Ossipee High School in 1951. From there she went on to attend University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was proud to earn her degree in Home Economics with honors. She became the Home Economics Adviser for the County Extension Services in Henderson, N.C. She met the love of her life, James Harold Johns in Greensboro, N.C. They were married in 1959 in Henderson, N.C. They settled in Huntsville, Alabama in 1960, where they began their lives together. She had her first son, James Alan Johns, with daughter, Rebecca Ruth, and sons William Clifford and Michael Kent to follow. Along with raising her family, Imogene was very active in her local community. She was a longtime, active member of University United Methodist Church, which later moved locations and became Grace United Methodist Church. She enjoyed singing in the choir with her many friends. She spent countless hour volunteering at CASA-driving people to doctor’s appointments or building wheelchair ramps, Meals On Wheels, and The Joel Curry Salvation Army Soup Kitchen-making thousands of sandwiches for others.
Imogene was known for her amazing cooking skills. She enjoyed making homemade specialties and surprising family members with their favorites for holiday meals. She took pride in her over flowing recipe box and enjoyed passing those recipes on. She was also talented at flower arranging. She even did the floral arrangements for several of her own childrens weddings. She was known to pull over on the side of the road and have her children help pick wildflowers for her arrangements. It was her passion to help others with her talents.
Imogene was comforted by her faith until the end. She loved her family and her family loved her. She fought the good fight, but the Lord took her home at the age of 90. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, William Trollinger Garrison, and her loving husband, Harold Johns.
She is survived by her four children and fourteen grandchildren: James (Jim) and Karol Johns of Daphne and their children, Garrison, Maylie (Donal) Cieutat of Mobile, Robin (Caleb) Reed, Trent (Kelsey), Guy, and Allison Johns; Becky and Nick Ibrahim of Knoxville, Tennessee and their children, Michael and Matthew (Anna) Ibrahim; Will and Lynn Johns of Marietta, Georgia and their children, Ashlyn, Morgan, Camryn, and Jaclyn Johns; and Mike and Audra of Huntsville and their children, Parker and Madelyn Johns. She is also survived by her three great-grandchildren: Nolan Reed, Donal Cieutat Jr. and Sklyar Ibrahim, and many other extended family.
A visitation is scheduled at Grace United Methodist Church in Huntsville on Sat, October 22nd, from 10:00-12:00 pm, with a celebration of life service to immediately follow at noon. A graveside memorial service will then proceed at 1:30 pm at Maple Hill Cemetery. Any donations in her memory can be made to either of these two organizations that were near and dear to her heart, The Joel Curry Salvation Army Soup Kitchen and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance ( www.tsalliance.org ), in honor of her granddaughter, Morgan, who has Tuberous Sclerosis. The family wishes to thank the hands on staff at Northshore Heights Assisted Living in Knoxville, TN for their kindness and dedication to her care the past five years.
