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Johnson's tradition lives on
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News-Times
By Cheryl Burke
BEAUFORT — It’s been just over a month since town resident Stephanie Smith lost her mother, Beverly Johnson of Harkers Island, in an automobile accident.
It wasn’t only a loss to Mrs. Smith, but to her two children who affectionately knew Mrs. Johnson as “Nana.”
As they grapple with grief, Mrs. Smith and her two daughters, Courtney, 5, and Chaeli, 7, have found special comfort through precious notes written by Mrs. Johnson in books she gave to her grandchildren over the years.
One of the last notes written to “her girls” was in a book she gave each of them at Christ-mas. Written in her distinctive handwriting on the inside cover of I Love You So are the simple words: “To my girls – the light, joy and reason for my life. And yes…. I love you too much, Nana.”
Her tradition of giving books with special notes writ-ten inside has not only passed on to Mrs. Smith, but to her close family friends, including Dawn Simpson of Bettie. When Mrs. Simpson was searching for a way to honor Mrs. Johnson and bring com-fort to Mrs. Smith and her children, she decided to donate two books in Mrs. Johnson’s memory to the library at Beaufort Elementary School, where Chaeli attends.
Fittingly, one of the books is I Love You So. The other is Sad Isn’t Bad, a book to help children deal with loss and grief. Mrs. Simpson, Mrs. Smith and her two daughters gave the books to the school on Wednesday.
“I just saw the books as healing tools,” said Mrs. Simpson. “I knew that book (I Love You So) was special to them. And from an educational point of view, Sad Isn’t Bad, helps children who are grieving.”
Mrs. Smith said she was deeply moved by Mrs. Simpson’s gesture.
“I thought it was very special,” she said. “I knew mama would think it was very special. My mom meant more to the girls and me than words could ever say. I don’t want her memory to be forgotten.”
Beaufort Elementary School Assistant Principal Catherine Warren, who knew Mrs. John-son, said the school appreciated the donations and that the book on grief would help more than just Mrs. Johnson’s granddaughters.
“I think Beverly would want this because so many children will now benefit from her death. We have so many children here who deal with grief in many ways, not only through death. When a child is going through their parents getting a divorce, that’s a form of grief. We have children whose parents are deployed overseas. That’s a form of grief.”
Mrs. Johnson’s life personified a love for children. She worked with the county school system for about 20 years and retired as the child nutrition administrative assistant about eight years ago. Over the years she also worked as a reading lab assistant at Harkers Island School, drove a school bus, worked in the office at East Carteret High School and finished her career in the child nutrition department.
Mrs. Smith said her mother retired early to help care for her grandchildren so Mrs. Smith could return to work as a nurse. Mrs. Johnson was an intricate part of her granddaughters’ lives, which is one reason Mrs. Smith is so angry about the untimely death of her mother, a death she said came at the hand of a drunk driver.
Mrs. Johnson, 58, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Joy Gaskill, 51, of Harkers Island when the accident occurred April 26 on Highway 70 west of Kinston.
“I look at them (her daughters) and know what a wonderful relationship they had with their grandmother and they should have been able to enjoy that for many years. But it’s been taken from them and they won’t have that because of the senseless act of one person,” she said.
“Two people are dead, but what he (the driver of the car that hit Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Gaskill) doesn’t realize is the devastation that it has caused to many people and the community. If any good can come from my mother’s death it’s that maybe it will make somebody think before they get in a car and cause the kind of pain and suffering we’re going through now.”
Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Gaskill died instantly when a 2000 Ford F-150 driven by Stephen Howard Nesbit, 27, of LaGrange, struck the 2002 GMC Denali driven by Mrs. Gaskill head-on. The N.C. Highway Patrol believes Mr. Nesbit had been drinking. His truck was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crossed the median, went into a for-ward skid and struck the Denali head on, killing both women.
The two were on their way to Asheville to attend a baby shower for Mrs. Gaskill’s daughter Hilary Brindley, who was pregnant when the accident occurred. She has since had her baby.
Mr. Nesbit was critically injured in the accident and is still hospitalized at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville and is listed in good condition. The N.C. Highway Patrol has charged him with driving while impaired, reckless driving to cause endangerment and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.
It wasn’t only a loss to Mrs. Smith, but to her two children who affectionately knew Mrs. Johnson as “Nana.”
As they grapple with grief, Mrs. Smith and her two daughters, Courtney, 5, and Chaeli, 7, have found special comfort through precious notes written by Mrs. Johnson in books she gave to her grandchildren over the years.
One of the last notes written to “her girls” was in a book she gave each of them at Christ-mas. Written in her distinctive handwriting on the inside cover of I Love You So are the simple words: “To my girls – the light, joy and reason for my life. And yes…. I love you too much, Nana.”
Her tradition of giving books with special notes writ-ten inside has not only passed on to Mrs. Smith, but to her close family friends, including Dawn Simpson of Bettie. When Mrs. Simpson was searching for a way to honor Mrs. Johnson and bring com-fort to Mrs. Smith and her children, she decided to donate two books in Mrs. Johnson’s memory to the library at Beaufort Elementary School, where Chaeli attends.
Fittingly, one of the books is I Love You So. The other is Sad Isn’t Bad, a book to help children deal with loss and grief. Mrs. Simpson, Mrs. Smith and her two daughters gave the books to the school on Wednesday.
“I just saw the books as healing tools,” said Mrs. Simpson. “I knew that book (I Love You So) was special to them. And from an educational point of view, Sad Isn’t Bad, helps children who are grieving.”
Mrs. Smith said she was deeply moved by Mrs. Simpson’s gesture.
“I thought it was very special,” she said. “I knew mama would think it was very special. My mom meant more to the girls and me than words could ever say. I don’t want her memory to be forgotten.”
Beaufort Elementary School Assistant Principal Catherine Warren, who knew Mrs. John-son, said the school appreciated the donations and that the book on grief would help more than just Mrs. Johnson’s granddaughters.
“I think Beverly would want this because so many children will now benefit from her death. We have so many children here who deal with grief in many ways, not only through death. When a child is going through their parents getting a divorce, that’s a form of grief. We have children whose parents are deployed overseas. That’s a form of grief.”
Mrs. Johnson’s life personified a love for children. She worked with the county school system for about 20 years and retired as the child nutrition administrative assistant about eight years ago. Over the years she also worked as a reading lab assistant at Harkers Island School, drove a school bus, worked in the office at East Carteret High School and finished her career in the child nutrition department.
Mrs. Smith said her mother retired early to help care for her grandchildren so Mrs. Smith could return to work as a nurse. Mrs. Johnson was an intricate part of her granddaughters’ lives, which is one reason Mrs. Smith is so angry about the untimely death of her mother, a death she said came at the hand of a drunk driver.
Mrs. Johnson, 58, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Joy Gaskill, 51, of Harkers Island when the accident occurred April 26 on Highway 70 west of Kinston.
“I look at them (her daughters) and know what a wonderful relationship they had with their grandmother and they should have been able to enjoy that for many years. But it’s been taken from them and they won’t have that because of the senseless act of one person,” she said.
“Two people are dead, but what he (the driver of the car that hit Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Gaskill) doesn’t realize is the devastation that it has caused to many people and the community. If any good can come from my mother’s death it’s that maybe it will make somebody think before they get in a car and cause the kind of pain and suffering we’re going through now.”
Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Gaskill died instantly when a 2000 Ford F-150 driven by Stephen Howard Nesbit, 27, of LaGrange, struck the 2002 GMC Denali driven by Mrs. Gaskill head-on. The N.C. Highway Patrol believes Mr. Nesbit had been drinking. His truck was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crossed the median, went into a for-ward skid and struck the Denali head on, killing both women.
The two were on their way to Asheville to attend a baby shower for Mrs. Gaskill’s daughter Hilary Brindley, who was pregnant when the accident occurred. She has since had her baby.
Mr. Nesbit was critically injured in the accident and is still hospitalized at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville and is listed in good condition. The N.C. Highway Patrol has charged him with driving while impaired, reckless driving to cause endangerment and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.
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