Elizabeth Shattuck Johnson

Elizabeth Shattuck Johnson, 95, peacefully passed from this life at her home in Bonsall, California, on Nov. 4, 2021. A second-generation native Californian, she graduated from the Mar-Ken School in Los Angeles and from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She lived her entire life after college in Southern California.

Elizabeth was an artist at heart. She lived her life thoroughly but joyfully, expressing her feelings on the painted canvas and also through the written word in both poetry and prose. She balanced the artistic and expressive elements of her life with athletics – tennis, golf, and swimming.

When she contracted polio during the epidemic of 1954, she spent months in an “iron lung,” and many more months regaining mobility. She was persistent in her recovery and taught physical education in the Pasadena Unified Schools until her retirement in 1979. Although she eventually gave up tennis and golf, she continued to swim laps into her nineties.

In 1980, she and her husband George H. Johnson, also an artist, retired to Bonsall where they planned, built, and landscaped their newly acquired acreage and home. Their gardens, groves and ponds remained a major source of pleasure to both of them. They also traveled widely and extended hospitality at home to their families and many friends.

After George’s death, Elizabeth volunteered in several local organizations and participated in the work and ministries of her church. Elizabeth was especially active in the Bonsall Woman’s Club and its Writers Group for many years. In her later years, she especially cherished a devoted group of very close friends.

Elizabeth is survived by her daughter Katherine Elizabeth Lawson of Modesto, California, two grandchildren and their families; two stepsons, Robert Johnson and George Johnson and their families; and six nieces and nephews and their families. She was predeceased by her parents; husband George H. Johnson; daughter Leslie Diane Kaak; sons William Henry Kaak and Robert Stevens Kaak; and sister Georgia Shattuck Mauch.

A memorial service will take place Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. at Grace Pesbyterian Church, 1450 E. Vista Way, Vista. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to The Burn Institute, 8825 Aero Drive, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92123 or to Grace Presbyerian Church, 1450 E. Vista Way, Vista 92084.