Mrs. Mary M. Fair-Johnson

Mary Lee Mason was born on November 8, 1944, to the late, Dan Lo Ion and Obie Brown Mason in Bolton, Mississippi. She was the youngest of 11 children. She attended the neighborhood elementary school and graduated from Sumner Hill High School in Clinton, Mississippi. Despite childhood medical conditions that limited her physical activity, her father encouraged her to live a productive, yet independent life, This influenced her decision to take Business Education and Home Economic courses, She also took piano lessons, By the end of her senior year, her mind was set on becoming a secretary, In 1962, she enrolled at Alcorn University in Loman, Mississippi, majoring in Business Education, Attending summer school allowed her to complete all requirements for graduation in three years, When she completed her student teaching assignment, in November 1965, a secretarial position became available in the Division of Arts and Sciences Department at Alcorn, There, she accepted the challenge of her first professional role, This secretarial position was the beginning of a career that would lead her to various roles in education, culminating as a Research Specialist for Milwaukee Public Schools, She retired from this position in November 2001; thirty-six years after her journey began, She continued her education and received a Master of Science Degree in educational psychology, While she was pursuing a successful career, she also made time for family. She met and married Charles E, Fair in June 1968, They were blessed with a daughter, Corlis Daphne in August 1969 and a son, Charles II, in November 1970, In April 1983, years after the dissolution of this marriage, she married Daniel Johnson, who preceded her in death, on September 6,2016, Raised in a Christian home, Mary accepted Christ as her Savior early in life, When she arrived in Milwaukee, she united with Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church and was a faithful servant until 2016, She served on the Usher Board, Missionary Society and in the Sunday School Department. She brought her love of learning and teaching to her position as a Sunday School teacher and Sunday School Superintendent, She grew attendance and a thirst for Christian knowledge with her enthusiasm and dissection of each lesson, Her weekly maps and overhead projections breathed life into Sunday morning, She expanded her teaching presence and became a teacher and eventual Dean in the Children's Division of the Wisconsin General Baptist Congress of Christian Education and a teacher at the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, Mary was united in fellowship with Christ the King Baptist Church from 201 7, until she moved to Texas with her son in August 2019, Despite her declining health, she involved herself with the Sunday School and mid-week Bible Study. You can't love teaching and not love children! Once her own two children left home and started families of their own, Mary became affiliated with Child Evangelism Fellowship and their Good News Club, an after-school program where elementary school aged children learned about Christ, She was so excited to meet new children each year and was encouraged to see children come back year after year, She didn't limit her interactions to the children; she would witness to the parents when they came for their kids. In addition to being very active in the Christian community, Mary was supportive of numerous community and educational organizations including: NAACP, MMABSE, Phi Delta Kappa, and the American Education Research Association. Before their passings, Mary and Daniel became quite the world travelers, spending time in London, Paris, Johannesburg, Egyp, a d Germany, in addition to their domestic trips, While pursuing a degree from Moody Bible College and Trinity Evangelical College, she enrolled in a class that required spending three weeks in Greece and Israel, observing Biblical excavations, Mary traveled to Costa Rica as recently as 2018 for her niece's wedding, She finally lost her battle against the illness that her father pushed her to overcome years ago, She departed this life and joined the Heavenly Host on October 14, 2019, She was preceded in death by her parents, Dan Lofton and Obie Brown Mason and three siblings, Ruby Lee Mason Gardner, Lofton Mason, Jr. and Robert Lee Mason and husband, Daniel Johnson, She leaves to cherish her memory: a daughter, C. Daphne Lawson of Boston, MA; a son, Charles E, Fair, II of Grand Prairie, TX; six grandchildren, Clarke Ella Humphrey of Washington D,C., Quentin Xavier Humphrey of Brooklyn, NY, Brittney Fair of Milwaukee WI, Domonique Fair of Benbrook, TX, Mason Dean Lawson of Boston, MA, and Chandler Jahzarah Lawson of Boston, MA; two great-grandchildren/ Kaidyn Karter Fair-Lyons of Benbrook, TX, and Kensleigh Maree Spears of Milwaukee/ WI. She loved and embraced the extensive family that God blessed her with, She remained friends with first husband Charles and his wife Beverly Fair. She was a second mother to their three daughters, Tanika Dean of Mansfield, TX, Shyla Deacon of Milwaukee/ WI/ and Jazmen Fair of Milwaukee, WI. She was also step-mother to Daniel's children; Daniel Johnson, III of San Antonio, TX, Julian Karl Johnson of Minneapolis, MN, Ronald Johnson of Arlington, TX, Colin Daniel Johnson of London, OH, and Cynthia Johnson of Minneapolis, MN. She is further survived by 7 siblings, too many nieces and nephews to list and the countless people that she touched in every area of her life who endeared themselves to her.

Mrs. Mary M. Fair-Johnson

November 8, 1944 - October 14, 2019