Sarah Marie Johnson, 91, passed from this life to Heaven on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023 at her home, surrounded by her loving family.  She was born on November 10, 1932 in Keota, Oklahoma.  She chose to go by her middle name “Marie” most of her life.

Her parents were Thomas Ira Brand and Lillie Mae Reid. Marie spent her childhood in Keota and attended Keota High School, graduating in 1950. She worked for a while at Burris General Store and also at her father’s gasoline station. She met the love of her life, Ira Johnson, and they were married on February 22, 1951 in Van Buren, Arkansas. They made their home in Keota. In 1952 they moved to California. There Marie worked at the Porterville Developmental Center along with her sisters. She later went to work for Josten’s Inc. in the Engineering department and retired from there after 25 years.

Marie loved God and attended church regularly in Porterville at the Pentecostal Tabernacle for many years. She and Ira loved to sing and make music. Marie played the piano for the church and Ira played his guitar. In her later years, she enjoyed listening to sermons on TV and listening to gospel music.

Marie was very talented. She enjoyed making beautiful quilts, crocheting lovely afghans, painting pictures, and writing songs and poems. She loved planting flowers and her favorite flower to plant was the purple Iris. She also enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and was quite proficient at it.

Next to God, Marie loved and enjoyed her family. Her greatest joy was when her four granddaughters were born. She was the proudest Grandma around!

She is survived by her daughter, Carolyn Johnson, sons Charles Johnson (Evangelina) and Michael Simpson (Vicki); her brother, Louis Brand, sisters Bonnie Hart and Georgia Speegle; granddaughters Marisa and Angela Johnson, Kelsey Hassler and Brenna Jones and her precious great grandson, River Hassler. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews that she dearly loved. She was particularly close to her niece, Deborah Oxley, who spent many hours with her during her illness.

Marie was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Martha, Mary and Allie, brothers William and Thomas Brand, Jr. and her beloved husband of 66 years, Ira.

Visitation will begin at 1:00 p.m. and graveside services will follow at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at Snapp-Bearden Funeral Home and Crematory in Branson, MO with Rev. Richard Michaels officiating. A tribute to her Grandmother will be given by Kelsey Hassler. Burial will be in Ozarks Memorial Park Cemetery, Branson.