A Life of Faith, Family, Service, Leadership and Joy

Anna Mable (White) Johnson lived 97 remarkable years, a life of faith, family, service, accomplishment, and joy. Born in a small settlement by Henryetta, Oklahoma in 1929, she would go on to become a valedictorian, wife and mother, Registered Nurse, longtime public servant, churchwoman, civic leader and world traveler. Through nearly a century of extraordinary change, Anna remained grounded in the things that mattered most to her, faith, family, education, service, and community.

Anna Mable Johnson was born on April 21, 1929, to the union of John White Sr. (Louis White) and Mary Lee (Collins)White. Anna’s birthplace was a small settlement outside of Henryetta, Oklahoma. Anna had three brothers, John, Leon, and Robert, and one sister, Dorothy.

Education would become one of the defining threads of Anna’s life. She attended the Booker T. Washington School system from 1st grade through 12th grade, graduating as valedictorian with honors.

In December 1946, following Floyd’s return home from World War II, Anna married Floyd Johnson of Haskell, Oklahoma, originally of Waldo, Arkansas. Together, they built a marriage that would endure for nearly seventy years. To this union were born three daughters, Gloria Jean, Franceil, and Pamela, along with her loving stepson, Luther. She and Floyd faithfully raised their three daughters with love and care.

After the girls left home, Anna decided it was her turn. She returned to school, enrolling in Bacone College, where she obtained her Registered Nursing degree and became a Registered Nurse.

Anna devoted her professional life to caring for others. She continued to work for the State of Oklahoma, first in Taft at The Oklahoma State Mental Hospital and later at the Lloyd E. Rader Children’s Center in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, where she was promoted to nursing supervisor. Her career in public service spanned an extraordinary 45 years.

Civic and Church Affiliations

Anna’s commitment to service extended far beyond her professional life. She was a devoted member of Eastside First Baptist Church in Haskell, Oklahoma, where she served as a Sunday School teacher, choir member, Missionary Union Member, speaker, and deaconess for the Creek District Mission.

Anna was always a strong believer in voting rights and civic participation. She and Floyd delivered Meals on Wheels to elderly and homebound neighbors. For many decades, she served as a poll worker in Precinct 33 in Muskogee County and was a Lifetime Member of the NAACP. One of the highlights of her life was being a guest at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.

Masonic Affiliations Lifetime Member

Past Grand Worthy Matron, Queen Bathsheba Grand Chapter

Order of the Eastern Star, P.H.A. Oklahoma

Past District Deputy Grand Worthy Matron, District 2

Past Most Ancient Matron, Heroines of Jericho, Herman E. Duncan, Court 26

Past Loyal Lady Ruler

Electa Assembly #36, Order of the Golden Circle

Past Illustrious Commandress, Hira Court 155

Past Princess Captain, Mary Lou Whitby, Guild #2, Heroines of Templars Crusade

Her masonic and civic responsibilities took her all over the world, including to Japan, South Korea, Germany, Canada, and extensively throughout the United States. For a girl born in a small Oklahoma town in 1929, the world became very large indeed.

Anna knew how to enjoy the life she had built. Some of her favorite pastimes were traveling around the world, shopping at Miss Jackson’s in Utica Square and other designer stores, reading Sue Grafton mystery novels, and visiting her kids and grandkids. She loved dining out with family and friends, especially if the menu included shrimp and the spiciest of foods. She loved her church, Eastside First Baptist. When she was home, you could find her in the den, her favorite room, always with a cup of coffee and watching Matlock, Perry Mason, In the Heat of the Night, Gunsmoke, or game shows. She worked hard, served faithfully, traveled widely, dressed beautifully, and enjoyed her life.

In Loving Memory

Anna was preceded in death by her grandparents John and Tempia Collins; her father John White, Sr. (Louis White); her mother Mary Lee (Collins) Fowler; her dear aunt, Lola Hoard; her three brothers John White Jr., Robert Morgan, and Leon Fowler; and her sister Dorothy Williams. In 2017, her best friend since 2nd grade and later sister-in-law, Chrisine Wiley, preceded her in death.

In 2016, after nearly seventy years of marriage, Anna was at the bedside of her beloved husband, Floyd, when he departed this life and went to be with the Lord at the age of 92.

Among so many close friends were her “Birthday Buddies” Jeanetta Hollis and Shirley Stidham, her first cousin Maxine Myers, and Mrs. Willie Mae Myers, her mentor in The Order of the Eastern Star.

Her Legacy

She leaves to cherish her memory her children Gloria Jean McDonald (Eddie) of West Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Franceil Johnson of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Pamela Johnson-Derrick of Haskell, Oklahoma. Her grandchildren are Eric Teague (Brenda) of Farmington Hills, Michigan; Anna Blanding-Pilliner (Garfield) of Hamden, Connecticut; David Liggins (Lorianne) of Parrish, Florida; Paul Derrick (Johanna) of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Luther Edwin Johnson, Jr. of Haskell, Oklahoma; and LeShon Johnson, Troy Johnson, and Brianna Johnson, all of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Her great-grandchildren include Brennan Teague, Erica Teague, Daniel Pilliner, Gabrielle Pilliner, Ethan Derrick, Theodore Derrick, Winston Derrick, and Genevieve Derrick, along with a host of other great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, cousins, dear friends, former colleagues, Eastside First Baptist members, and all the sisters in The Order of the Eastern Star, especially LaHoma Fulsom, who was also her fellow church member and traveling buddy.

From a small Oklahoma town, even picking cotton as a young adult for 25 cents a day, to places around the world, Anna’s journey was extraordinary. But the truest measure of her life is found not in the miles she traveled or the titles she held, but in the people she loved and the lives she touched.

Across 97 years, Anna cared for patients, served her church and community, nurtured friendships that lasted a lifetime, built a career, traveled the world, and helped raise generations of a family she adored. She lived long enough to see her children become parents, her grandchildren become parents, and new generations inherit the opportunities for which her own generation had worked so hard.

Anna Mable White Johnson lived fully, served faithfully, loved generously, and left the world larger for those who came after her.

A Home Going Celebration is scheduled, Saturday, September 12, 2026, 11:00 a.m., First Baptist Church, 1401 N. Haskell Blvd., Haskell, OK; with Dr Stephen Wiley, delivering the eulogy. Interment will follow in Haskell City Cemetery, Haskell, OK.

Visitation will be Friday, 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Masonic  Final Rites Ceremony will be Friday at 5:00 p.m.

The family has been cared for by House of Winn-Muskogee