Amy Norse Johnson

Amy Norse Johnson July 20, 1920 – June 12, 2009

Amy Luella Norse was born July 20, 1920 in Bondville, Vermont, one of 10 children of Roland and Mary Norse. In 1942 she and her best friend, Dora, moved to California where she went to work for Douglas Aircraft. She married her boss on the assembly line, Warner Johnson, on September 24, 1944. At first they lived in a converted chicken coop – housing was tight during the war – but eventually they moved to Redondo Beach.

During the late 1940s and ’50s, Amy was the typical American housewife, living in a house with a white picket fence and giving birth to sons Terry in 1954 and Robert in 1958. Neighbor Betty Brownlow called Amy “Mrs. Clean,” noting that she laundered her window curtains weekly.

That all changed in 1960. The family bought a bakery in Balboa, California. Warner became the baker and Amy sold the bread, pastries, cookies, donuts, pies and cakes. Sons Terry and Bob pitched in as soon as they were old enough. Amy used to laugh as she recalled the time a customer saw Bob in his high chair and told her what a cute “grandson” she had.

Celebrities showed up at the bakery from time to time. Sam Boyd (Sam’s Town in Las Vegas) would stop by to buy squaw bread. John Wayne, Buddy Ebsen and other stars were customers.

Afraid that a customer would slip and fall, Amy admonished one and all, “No wet or sandy feet.” In a beach town, that didn’t work too well, but Amy never relented. (One wonders how many more customers they might have had...)

Amy and Warner used to love to vacation in Las Vegas. Amy had an optimistic way of looking at the gambling. She might say, “I won $300 – a $100 jackpot and a $200 one.” She wouldn’t know how much money those jackpots cost, but nevertheless considered them winnings and took them home to buy special gifts: “I paid for this chair in Las Vegas!”

In 1980, with Warner being 69, they sold the bakery and retired. But Amy so liked interacting with people that she got a job behind the counter at another bakery, which she kept until she and Warner moved to Aloha, Oregon, in 1995.

In Aloha, Amy resumed her “neatness kick,” picking up trash in the streets. One day, at age 86, she fell and broke her hip. The surgery went well and she was able to get around fine with a walker. Moving into Rosewood Park, Amy joked, “I’m not going to be a street person anymore.” During her last years, despite short-term memory problems, Amy remained gregarious, enjoying activities like crazy hat socials and having her fingernails and toenails decorated in wild colors.

Amy died peacefully in her room, surrounded by family. She is survived by husband Warner, sons Terry and Bob, sisters Thelma Goodell and Marge Dernier, and brother Ralph.

Tualatin Valley Funeral Alternatives in Hillsboro is in charge of the arrangements. (503) 693-7965