Carel Paulena Johnson

Carel Paulena Johnson was born in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 1958, to Calvin Benjamin Johnson and Samma Corrine Murphy (Née Young). She passed away on Oct. 7, 2024, at 66 years of age, in the home she shared with her daughter, while her sister was at her bedside.

She is survived by her daughter Amanda Michelle Jones, son-in-law Eric Reed Jones, younger siblings Stephanie Byrd, Craig Murphy, and Richard Murphy, step-siblings Cheri Jacobs and Steven Johnson, as well as her beloved bonus dad, Wayne Murphy. She is also survived by, and remembered by, her best friend Monica Zubia, numerous other relatives, friends, coworkers, and those she lovingly called her “bonus kids.”

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ben Johnson and Samma Murphy; her daughter Lou Ann and her son Daniel, as well as two of her closest friends; a former coworker at Magnolia Place Healthcare, Judine, and lifelong friend Diane Dees.

Carel Johnson lived a hard life, and suffered greatly. Yet, in spite of that, she was filled with a joy incomprehensible, and a smile that could light up the darkest abyss. 

Many years of her life were spent caring for her beloved, disabled daughter Lou-Ann with a strength and fortitude that was a gift from God in its magnitude. Of her three children, she buried two. But with her loving, caring heart, she continued her care for others by earning her education and becoming a registered nurse’s aid. Choosing what was known as the “graveyard shift,” she worked overnight befriending many of her coworkers and bringing light into the darkest nights of some of her patients at Magnolia Place Healthcare in Liberty, Texas.

When she was no longer able to work in Healthcare, Carel chose hot-shot driving, and she loved every minute of her adventures.

She was a well-rounded world traveler, a cat lover to the extreme, a car lover, a lover of purses and shoes, an avid reader of books, and a beloved, endearing mother, who gave her all if she gave anything. She was a bonus mom to all of her daughter Amanda’s friends, and adored by each of them. To some, she was more their mother than simply an extra, and they always welcomed her loving advice, confiding in her secrets she never revealed to another soul.

She was also a lover of card games, playing them often on girl trips with her daughter and friends. She was obsessed with Star Trek, and Tyler Perry plays. She was a master of Tetris, and she adored Pokemon Go. So much so on the latter that she was posthumously honored on a Reddit web page for the Pokemon Go community. A small tidbit of her life, a photo of herself mid-laughter, and part of her impressive Pokemon collection, were shared thousands of times, with nearly a thousand heart felt condolences, and seen by two million members of the game’s player base. 

Within hours of it’s posting, due to the mention of her favorite Pokemon, Pikachus the world over were named in her honor and memory. Something that would have brought Carel’s childlike soul immense happiness if she could have seen it.

Carel was a woman filled with laughter, loved by all who met her, and nicknamed “Sunshine” by a coworker at her last place of employment. She was a woman who gave even when she had nothing left to give, with a soft spoken wisdom, a touch of glittering mischief, the greatest sense of humor, endless patience, and a heart of gold.

She is home now, with her beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, Whom she had always hoped to please, and in Whom she always found her refuge and strength. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her, and even all who only had the chance to know of her. The love and joy she poured out in abundance during her life will be treasured forever in our hearts.

A memorial service and farewell dinner will be held for Carel in Old Town Spring at “Elm and Magnolia” on Dec. 14, at 4 p.m. Family, friends, and friends who became family, will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee on the porch in her honor during our mild Southern winter; something she was well known for doing every morning and evening. We also ask that in lieu of wearing black, guests wear a shade of pink or green as they were her favorite colors.