Eloise Johnston

SHREVEPORT, LA - Eloise Johnston died peacefully on Sunday, June 26, 2016 at Montclair Assisted Care Facility. She was 92 years old. She had moved only recently to Montclair from her long-time home on Gladstone Blvd. She was born January 31, 1924, Eloise Hall Palmer, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Franklin Monroe and Vera Colvin Palmer, the youngest of three. She grew up in Alexandria and Shreveport, graduating from Shreveport (later C.E. Byrd) High School in 1941 and attending Highland Baptist Church through its post-fire rebuilding until its dissolution in the 1990s. School and church yielded many cherished friendships. A war bride like so many of her "greatest generation," Eloise met the love of her life, Charles Bergen Johnston, a young GI from Pittsburgh, at a USO-sponsored dance. A whirlwind of weeks later, Ellie and Chuck were married on December 22, 1942, by a Justice of the Peace in Bossier City during their lunch break. Thus began a life together that would endure for more than 40 years until "Papaw's" death from cancer in 1989 and produce what they treasured above all else, their family. "Granny" was never-failingly its center, sewing, cooking, driving, nursing-always caring-for all. While we are sure, in large part because of her own strong faith, of her continued life with Jesus Christ and reunion with those already departed, even at 92, she leaves us deeply bereft. Granny was the one to whom we always turned and came home. Eloise is survived by her best friend and beloved daughter, Linda Faye Johnston Reno and son-in-law, Charles Reno. She also leaves a long list of adoring grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Suzanne Rimmer and daughters Destine and Hannah; Amy Tidovsky and daughters Miranda and Clementine Wolfe; Julie and Fred James and children Ian and Phoebe; Bret and Noi Johnston and daughters Thavi and Mali; and Peter and Misty Tidovsky and son Nathan. Eloise is preceded in death by her darling son Scott Charles Johnston as well as her sister and faithful companion Henri Faye ("Auntie Faye") Smelley and big brother Billy Palmer. The family would like to thank the staff at Mont Clair Park Assisted Living, and Regional Hospice for their love and care. The family also would like to thank cousin Vicky Colvin for her many special kindnesses and support. Services for Eloise will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 30, 2016 at Rose-Neath Marshall Street, Shreveport, LA, burial to follow at Jonesboro Cemetery, Jonesboro, LA. Officiating will be Bro. Ray Boswell, Rev. Peter Tidovsky, and Bishop Anthony Grant. The family will receive friends from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. She had a great circle of friends from school, which remained intact for the decades that followed, and her church and faith were central, guiding features. The family would like to suggest memorials be made to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201, or Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301.