Dianne E. Johnson

Dianne Elizabeth Johnson, born January 1, 1944, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Dorothy Lillian Hamilton and Reginald Hall Johnson, Jr, passed away November 21, 2024.  She was born five seconds after midnight, the first baby born in the United States in 1944.

Ms. Johnson attended elementary school in North Carolina and South Carolina. In 1957, she moved to Tampa, Florida where she attended Madison Junior High School, St. John’s Parish Day School, and was graduated from Henry B. Plant High School in 1962. She earned a competitive scholarship to Florida State University, from which she was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Language Education in 1965. Ms. Johnson was also the recipient of grants for advanced studies at East Carolina University, Haverford College, Lincoln University, and Pennsylvania State University. She was granted a Master of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Delaware in 1972. She did doctoral work at the University of Maryland in the 1970’s and earned a Master of Arts degree in French at the University of Delaware in 1980.

Ms. Johnson taught Spanish and English at Pasco High School in Dade City, Florida from 1965-1968. She taught Spanish and English at Brookside Junior High School in Sarasota from 1968-1970. From 1970-1979 she was librarian and instructor of French at the Tome School in Port Deposit and North East, Maryland. Concurrently, she taught Spanish part-time at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. From 1979-2008 Ms. Johnson taught Spanish and French at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, serving as Chair of the Foreign Language Department from 1979-1992. Part-time employment included hospital social worker, bilingual secretary, office manager, waitress, marketing assistant, tutor, and translator.

Ms. Johnson’s hobbies were gardening, nature studies, Hispanic culture, travel, interior design, reading, and music.

She is survived by her husband, Luis Manuel Gil Núñez; a son, Randall Carl Fluker, Jr.; a grandson, Randall Carl Fluker, III; and a sister, Judith Johnson Connor.