Louise S. Johnson

Louise Virginia Sowder Johnson, 99, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 6, 2025, at the Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah House in Fishersville.

She was born on March 23, 1926, in Long Branch, West Virginia to the late Luther James and Cassie Lou Foster Sowder

Louise moved to Staunton when she was eighteen and started working at Woodrow Wilson Hospital in Fishersville serving food to our veterans. She then worked in packaging at American Safety Razor for twenty-five years retiring in 1975. She also established the Corner Cupboard Antiques in 1979. She embraced a life most enjoyed with family and many special friends. A great joy for her was our youth and animals.

She was residing at AVIVA Baldwin Park in Staunton and was truly committed to her faith as a member of First Baptist Church in Staunton.

She is survived by her loving granddaughter Kristin Ann and her husband, Josh Cornwell, as well as her great grandsons, Abel and Heath Cornwell.

In addition to her parents, Louise is preceded in death by her husband of fifty years, Melvin Elwood Johnson; her daughter, Retta Kay Farrish (Johnson); her brothers, William “Willie” Luther Sowder, Albert “Buck” Charles, Clyde “Frankie” Franklin, and Luther Eugene Sowder; her sisters, Nellie Jewell Sowder Starks, Janet Marie Sowder Skeens, Betty Loraine Sowder Talley, and Edna Mae Sowder Wingfield; as well as her niece, Helen Jean; and her nephew, Michael.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at First Baptist Church in Staunton with Daniel Pritchett officiating.

Internment will follow at Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah (c/o Augusta Health Foundation, PO Box 1000, Fishersville, VA 22939).