Dec. 14, 1922-March 10, 2018
Disposition: Cremation. Celebration of life: At a later date.
Mrs. Johnston, 95, Bolivar, died Saturday, March 10. She was born in Chicago to Frederick Klein and Nellie Coash.
After her mother’s untimely passing while she was very young, she and her sister were raised for nine years by relatives in Momence, Illinois, at which time her father remarried and they returned to Chicago.
After graduation from high school, she was employed by Motorola as a secretary. She married Chester LeVere in 1947, and became a stay-at-home mother to three children.
She and her husband co-founded Joyce Brush Co. in 1956, and moved the business to Stockton in 1979. She remained involved in the business until 1989. The company continues to be active under the management of her son, Chet LeVere Jr. After the death of her second husband, she moved to Bolivar, where she remained until her death.
She was an active volunteer at Citizens Memorial Healthcare Facility until her health declined. She was a generous contributor to St. Jude’s Hospital, Wounded Warriors, the Alzheimer’s Association and CMH.
Survivors include three children, Janice Garvin of Ocala, Florida, Chet Jr. and wife Lanell of Bolivar and David Alan and wife Lauri of Treasure Island, Florida; five grandchildren, Craig, Stephen, Lindsay, Robert and Katherine; and great-grandchildren, Chloe, Alexander and Jude.
Arrangements were under the direction of Butler Funeral Home, Bolivar.
