Mrs. Mayola Johnson

During the time of World War I, Alfred Little Bull Sr., left the Sioux plains of Montana and ended his journey in Louisiana where he met the love of his life. They later gave birth to David Bull Sf. who met and married Mary (Lowe) Bull. It was this day, March 27, 1918 that Mayola Bull, daughter of David and Mary Bull, entered the world in Bastrop, Louisiana. While a young man took his last breath on the battlefield, she breathed her first breath. As the War waged on, Mayola and her family fought a different war in the South, A war against lynching, share-cropping and surviving. She didn't know it then, but that tussle for life would last her throughout her years. It would represent a physical and spiritual battle. Mayola began her formal education in Bastrop, Louisiana at Morehouse Parish, received her diploma, and later continued Christian Education classes in Monroe, Louisiana and Crossett, Arkansas. . Not discouraged but staying strong in her faith in God, Mayola attended Morning Star Baptist, where eyes caught the eyes of the then Deacon Willie A. Johnson of Washington Baptist Church whom she married April 20th, 1938. She faithfully served as First Lady for various churches under Pastor Johnson's leadership: New Bethel Baptist in Crossett, Mt. Zion Baptist in Jersey, Arkansas, Evergreen.L, Baptist in Boydell, Arkansas, Union Hill Baptist. In 1969 Rev. Willie A. Johnson and Mayola Bull Johnson relocated to Milwaukee, WI. Later in 1971 until 1987, Mayola became the First Lady of Westside Missionary Baptist Church. In addition to remaining an exemplary model of the mother's board, she fostered relationships and mentored young women by teaching them self-respect, self-actualization, self-value, and the power of love and living righteously. Mother Johnson's tireless efforts to encourage others to walk in the Christian faith continued through 17 Presidencies including one which she thought she would never see in her lifetime, that of an African-American, President Barack H. Obama. Those fighting years helped her to encourage her generations and others to develop into great parents. Some of her other accomplishments include delivering several children as a midwife in Crossett, Arkansas, working at J.C. Penny's in Milwaukee, teaching in a log-cabin school in Morehouse Parish, and being a faithful and encouraging wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great grandmother who fostered and developed successful generations. By her later years, Mayola had a great number of people who loved and cherished. She spent her days at Community Care with nurses who loved her spirit; she was visited daily by home health aides who fell in love with her charm and a host of family and friends that love her to the moon. Mrs. Mayola Johnson peacefully transitioned on Monday, May 16th, at 6:30 P.M. surrounded by family and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband Willie A. Johnson, her parents David and Mary Bull Sr., her siblings: Otis Bull, Melody Worsham, Elizabeth Crooks, Inell Johnson, Dave Bull, Willie Bull, Adam Bull, Francis Johnson. She leaves to cherish her memory: Mimi Bull, Ferrial (Connie) Johnson, Doris (Odean) Jackson, Betty Smith, Barbara White/Enentchaas Ra, Martha (Joseph) Torres, 36 grand-children, 62 great grandchildren, 30 great great grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, family friends and those in the community who love her,

Mrs. Mayola Johnson

March 27, 1918 - May 16, 2016