Linda Chavis Johnson was a biology teacher for decades and a mentor to aspiring college students who needed an extra boost.
While studying at Morris Brown College, she befriended the late Charlie Mae Wilson, who in later years was involved with that historically black school's Upward Bound program.
Mrs. Johnson followed suit. The program, which no longer exists, was geared to low-income teens and provided a perfect place for her to mold young minds. She volunteered for summer programs and Saturday tutorials for many years starting in the 1980s.
"She was an intelligent lady who loved teaching and wanted to uplift," said a daughter, Julie Johnson of Atlanta. "She took great interest in students, and she had a lot of influence on a lot of people."
The educator died Friday at her home in Atlanta of complications from kidney failure and other illnesses. She was 69. A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday in the Cascade chapel of Murray Brothers Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Johnson was born in Ahoskie, N.C., but made her way to Atlanta for higher learning. She graduated from Morris Brown College with a bachelor's of science degree in biology and home economics.
She taught in the Douglas County school system and at Atlanta's Southwest High, but Northside High is where she spent most of her career. There, she even taught two of her children.
She would tell them to turn to a page of a book "and know exactly what was on that page," said daughter Kimberly Johnson-Bradford of Athens, who earned an A in the class. "It was easy for me to be her student because I was used to listening to her as a mother. But I didn't realize the mind she had until I had her in class. It amazed me."
Her son Michael Johnson of Atlanta said he never had his mother as a teacher, but he remembers others praised her.
"She taught at Northside before I got there," he said, "but people always talked about how nice she was. She didn't play games, but she was a really good teacher. Generally, she was all about the kids."
Mrs. Johnson also was a skilled seamstress who sewed her daughters' wedding dresses and prom outfits.
In 1988, she took a break from the classroom to start an interior design and upholstery business, but eventually returned to teaching. She retired in 1999, the same year R.V. Johnson, her husband of 32 years, died.
Additional survivors include another son, Tony Cooper of Fayetteville; a daughter, Renee Johnson of Atlanta; a brother and sister, Melvin Chavis and Margaret Harris, both of Elizabeth City, N.C.; and 11 grandchildren.
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