Obituaries

Marion Carolyn Felknor Johnston returned to her Heavenly Father on August 1, 2024 after a long battle with Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Carolyn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 3, 1949 to George and Marion Felknor. Her childhood was spent in Baytown, Texas where she graduated in 1967 from Robert E. Lee High School. She came to Sherman to attend Austin College, and it was there she met the love of her life, Donald Johnston.

During their 55 years of marriage, Carolyn and Donald had two children and five grandchildren. While they began their family, Carolyn completed her Bachelor of Arts in history from Austin College, and then obtained a Masters of Education from the University of North Texas. For over 30 years she positively impacted the lives of thousands of children in the Dallas, San Antonio North Side, Van Alstyne, and Sherman schools as a teacher and reading specialist. Her community was additionally blessed by her service with Altrusa International, Friends of the Sherman Library, League of Women Voters of Sherman/Grayson County, and Red River Reading Association, and by her support of organizations including Austin College, Democratic Women of Grayson County, Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County, Meals on Wheels Texoma, Red Cross, and Sherman Symphony Orchestra. Carolyn was also an active member of Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church, singing in the choir and serving in many capacities, including as an elder and as a leader in the collection and distribution of children’s school supplies.

In her remaining free time, she was an avid reader and gardener. She also enjoyed exercise: she faithfully attended Jazzercise for over 30 years and later, as her health permitted, Silver Sneakers. She loved shopping, collecting the neighborhood's stray cats, and eating her husband's culinary creations. Together they traveled the world, went scuba diving in many oceans, and enjoyed the local symphony and their monthly bridge group. In her final years, they enjoyed bird watching from their kitchen window and drives to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to watch the geese.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her parents, Marion Carolyn Starts Felknor and Dr. George Eckel Felknor, Jr., and her brother, Charles Eckel Felknor. She leaves behind her husband, Donald Lee Johnston; her son, Charles Stephen "Steve" Johnston, and wife, Kathleen, of Austin; daughter, Elizabeth "Beth" Consuelo Johnston Lessner, and husband, Mark, of McKinney; her sister, Wendy Felknor Thompson of Cookeville, Tennessee; her grandchildren, Elijah Johnston, Luke Johnston, Rebekah Lessner, Joshua Lessner and Rachel Lessner; and other extended family.

A celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, August 25, at 3:00 p.m. at Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church in Sherman. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to Austin College or Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County.