Mary Nell Johnston, 90, ‘a well-rounded woman for her generation'

By Shane Blatt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mary Nell Johnston didn't mind debunking stereotypes.

Growing up in the Depression era, Mrs. Johnston ran the butcher shop at her father's Howell Mill market; challenged and defeated boys on the tennis court; and shot rifles for sport as a student at Agnes Scott College.

"I would say she was an early women's libber," daughter Kathleen Devine of Suwanee said. "She was a well-rounded woman for her generation. She believed in her own independence."

Known for most of her life as "Polly," short for "Pollyanna," Mrs. Johnston also had an abiding faith in education, believing that it improved her chances for success and survival, Mrs. Devine said.

"It was a sense of pride," she said. "[Education] helped her achieve that sense of I can stand on my own two feet."

When Mrs. Johnston was in her mid-50s, she headed back to college for a master's degree in education from the University of Georgia. She would become a librarian for almost 20 years at Garden Hills Elementary School in Atlanta.

"She loved to learn; she loved to teach," her daughter said.

Mary Nell Johnston, 90, of Atlanta died Saturday of kidney failure at Altus House in Sandy Springs. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Crest Lawn Memorial Park in Atlanta. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

Born in 1918, Mrs. Johnston lived her entire life in Atlanta. As a child, she was an avid tennis player, taking on her two brothers on the clay court her father had built in the backyard.

In the late 1930s at Agnes Scott College, Mrs. Johnston was a member of the rifle team and captain of the tennis team. She was so good at tennis, family members said, she helped coach her college teammates and won a state championship at least once.

After graduating with a math degree, she married Grover Martin Johnston and became a full-time homemaker.

"Once she got married, she was the kind of person that felt she needed to be dedicated to her marriage and kids, so she didn't play tennis after that," said daughter Mary Lou Moorehead of Atlanta.

But not one to slow down, Mrs. Johnston did bookkeeping work for her husband's business in tool sales and repair, Mrs. Devine said.

When her husband died, she sold their Chastain Park house, and in 1993, she moved to Mount Vernon Village retirement condominiums.

Armed with her love of reading and background in library work, Mrs. Johnston turned around the community's library.

She cataloged and organized the books and created a more systematic approach to ensuring folks returned items they check out.

"What would happen is people would keep the books," Ms. Moorehead said. "So if they didn't return them ... she'd go knock on their door or call them and say, ‘Your book is due.'"

Milton Hibbard, administrator of the Sandy Springs facility, said Mrs. Johnston was a longtime board member and strong supporter of the living room-size library with floor-to-ceiling books.

"The library was there, but it needed work," he said. "It needed attention. She gave it that attention. Education was always at the top of her list."

Other survivors include a son, Grover Kincaid Johnston of Atlanta, and one grandson.