Mrs. Irene Blackwell Johnson passed away peacefully on April 10, 2019.  Funeral services will be held at Brown's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Gibsonville, NC on Sunday, April 14, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. with family visitation one half hour prior to the service.

Irene Blackwell Johnson was born on January 24, 1932 in Caswell County, North Carolina, and was the daughter of the late Thomas D. Blackwell Sr. and Beulah Turner Blackwell.

United in marriage on July 5, 1948, the couple was blessed to rear their six children and to share many memories together.   She retired from the Rockingham County Public School System and will be remembered as a strong, quiet, calm, and meek person.  A loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Irene was genuinely concerned about the welfare of her neighbors, and was loved and respected throughout the community.

She was preceded in death by her sons - Harry Johnson and Willie Lee Johnson, III ("Sandy"); daughter - Linda Johnson; sisters - Ellen Graves, Nannie Penn, and Betty Mabry; and brother -Thomas Blackwell, Jr.

She leaves to cherish fond memories:   her loving husband of 70 years - Willie Johnson, Jr., of the home; son - Larry Johnson of Lynchburg, VA; daughters - Stephanie Burns (Torey) of Winston-Salem, NC and Iesha Johnson of Reidsville, NC; grandchildren - Ritchie Johnson of Reidsville, NC, Jasmine Perkins of Cascade, VA, Lakaiya Johnson of Reidsville, NC, and Isaiah Burns of Winston-Salem, NC; 7 great-grandchildren; sister - Elnora Neal of Reidsville, NC; special daughter-in-law - Gloria Johnson; special friends - Thomas and Barbara Jean Hooper; and a host of other relatives and friends.

McLaurin Funeral Home is serving the family.