Cover photo for Kay Johnson's Obituary
Kay Johnson Profile Photo
1945 Kay 2023

Kay Johnson

June 5, 1945 — August 10, 2023

Kay Georgia Johnson, age 78, of Marietta, Georgia passed away Thursday, August 10th, 2023.
Kay was born in Oshkosh, WI on June 5th, 1945 to Harry and Tempy Furlong. She was a graduate of Oshkosh High School in 1963 and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) in 1969. Kay was a member of the Oshkosh City Choir and enjoyed singing Handel's Messiah during the holidays. After graduating from UWO, Kay married Galen Johnson on January 31st, 1970. Not long after their wedding, the U.S. Navy moved them briefly to Pensacola, FL and then onto Bremerhaven, Germany, where they lived for two years. It was here that Kay fell in love with travel. She and her husband traveled every chance they could while living overseas. After Galen completed his service in the U.S. Navy, they settled in Green Bay, WI in 1973. Kay was active with the Junior Women's Club where she started the first summer program for disabled children, giving them the opportunity to enjoy many activities together while building their skills. While living in Green Bay, Kay gave birth to two sons, Tyler in 1977 and Travis in 1981. Her two sons were her greatest joy. Kay and her family later moved to Springfield, IL in 1983 before finally settling in Marietta, GA in 1989.

Kay taught piano and voice lessons for 37 years. She was a substitute teacher in Cobb County Schools and was active in the IBM Writing to Read Program. Kay was a devoted wife and mother, selflessly giving all that she had to ensure her two sons had every opportunity in life to succeed, experience life and see the world. Kay thoroughly enjoyed taking her two sons across the Southeast to competitive tennis tournaments and cheering them on along the way.

Kay was full of life and adventure. She wanted to see the world and God's beautiful creation. In her spare time, Kay enjoyed planning her family's next adventure, ensuring the experience was special and memorable for everyone. Kay planned trips to over 30 countries across four continents for her family. As her children grew older and started having children of their own, it didn't slow them down. Kay planned trips as far as South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, where she took her first granddaughter at only 18 months of age. She loved sharing her passion of travel with her grandchildren too. Kay and her husband, Galen, had some memorable trips of their own to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, China, South Africa, Zimbabwe and many others. In all, Kay and Galen visited 6 of the 7 continents of the world together, most of them with the family.

In summer, one of Kay's favorite things to do was take her family to visit her sister, Mary Furlong in Appleton, WI. There they enjoyed making memories on Bear Lake and visiting Door County. When Kay wasn't traveling, she loved swimming at the pool with her friends and doing water aerobics. Kay enjoyed telling stories and making her friends laugh. Arguably one of her favorite days of the year was April Fool's Day!

Her greatest joy the last few years was spending time with her six grandchildren. She is equally as proud of them as she was of her two sons. Kay would spend time baking with the grandchildren, teaching them piano, giving voice lessons and taking all of them shopping. Kay thoroughly enjoyed the holiday season. She would host family holiday dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas each year with a new and fun recipe, oftentimes inspired by her world travels the prior year. Every year on Christmas Eve the family went to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for Christmas Eve service, followed by a family dinner at Kay's house.

Kay is survived by Galen Johnson, her husband of 53 years. She is survived by two sons, Tyler Johnson of Marietta, GA, his wife Jacqueline and their three children, Ellison, Lillian, and Julienne. Kay is survived by son Travis Johnson of Marietta, GA, his wife Chrissy and their three children, Cayman, Adelyn, and Cannon. Kay is survived by her sister, Mary Furlong of Appleton, WI.

A memorial will be held at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA on Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 at 2:00 PM in the Chapel. Following the memorial, Kay's husband, Galen, will receive guests for a reception at his home.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks you consider a donation to Sarcoma Cancer Research:
< Https://www.curesarcoma.org >
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kay Johnson, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Memorial

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Starts at 2:00 pm (Eastern time)

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Photo Gallery

Guestbook

Visits: 18

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Send Flowers

Send Flowers

Plant A Tree

Plant A Tree