OBITUARY: Glenda Rose Johnson, of Victoria Landings in Melbourne, Passed Away May 9 at Age 89

Moved to Brevard County in 1956

BREVARD COUNTY • TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA – Glenda F. Johnson, née Rose Glenda Fink, a resident at Victoria Landings in Melbourne (and formerly of Titusville and Cocoa Beach), FL passed away May 9 with her family by her side.

Mrs. Johnson was born in Miami, Florida March 22, 1931 to Rose Catherine and Glenn Fink (both deceased) and sister to Gerald Fink (also deceased).

She graduated from Miami Jackson High School and was a Cum Laude graduate from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Arts in Education.

While in college she was a member of the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society and a Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority Sister.

In 1953 Glenda married her High School sweetheart Jim Johnson (also a graduate of the University of Miami). When Jim took an Engineer’s position with The Boeing Company at Cape Canaveral in 1956, they moved to Brevard County.

Upon arrival, she started working for Brevard County Schools in elementary education.

She was also involved in Civic Organizations and was President of the American Association of University Women (Cocoa Beach, FL Branch).

In 1960 she left teaching to have children. She had Jerry in 1960, Chrystine in 1961, and Glenn in 1962. She returned to teaching at Mrs. Butler’s preschool near Freedom 7 Elementary when her kids started school there. She left teaching when her husband was sent to Palo Alto California to attend Stanford’s Sloan program.

Upon their return to Cocoa Beach, Glenda became very active in her kid’s activities. She was a Brownie Leader for her daughter and a Cub Scout Den Mother for her sons.

She became the taxi driver for her kid’s piano lessons, swim practice, baseball practice, and ran both the football and basketball concession stands at Cocoa Beach High School while her kids were in the CBHS Band.

On top of her kid’s very active schedule, she decided to return to the workforce and wanted to give back to her community. She became a social worker for Brevard County and eventually became an Area Supervisor for the State of Florida Social Services. Glenda left social services when her office was closed and took a job with Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) at the Kennedy Space Center as a Human Resource Specialist.

In 1989 Glenda “retired” from work when her husband, Jim became Manager of the NASA Liaison Office at Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Headquarters in Ottawa Canada.

While in Canada, she became active with other embassy wives and joined them at outings and parties. Through this group she learned to snowshoe, cross-country ski, and ice skating – not bad for a 58-year-old Florida Native.

Glenda continued to follow her husband as he took on more responsibility with NASA. In 1992 they moved to Reston VA where my mom roamed the museums and found phenomenal places to eat.

They moved again to Houston Texas when Jim’s job was transferred to Johnson Space Center. Jim finally retired after 35 years with NASA and they moved back to Brevard County settling in Titusville.

In addition to her Education degree from the University of Miami, she also earned a Master of Science from Oklahoma State in Human Relations.

She spent her time volunteering for Meals on Wheels in both Houston Texas, and Titusville Florida. She was a huge animal lover and donated regularly to ASPCA, Humane Society, and the World Wildlife Fund.

For the last 15 years, Glenda suffered from Alzheimer and was lovingly cared for by her husband of 66 years, until his death last October.

Glenda is survived by her son Jerry of Palm Bay, her daughter Chrystine Kverek and husband David of Palm Bay, granddaughter Beverly of St. Petersburg, grandson David of Palm Bay, and her son Glenn Johnson and wife Anna Maria Ruby of Titusville.

Services will be held at Our Saviour Catholic Church in Cocoa Beach on Friday, May 29, 2020 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations made be made to any animal rescue charity.

You may sign Glenda’s guestbook at www.beckmanwilliamson.com

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