Helen Louise Johnson Dies December 27

Helen Louise Hite Johnson

Helen Louise Hite Johnson of Southampton died December 27 at Southampton Hospital. She was 96.

Born on March 10, 1916, in Fords, Virginia, she attended school there and married Harrison Johnson on May 13, 1933.

For a number of years, she labored in the potato fields of C.E. Diamond Farms alongside her husband. In the potato fields, she also worked with her longtime friends Thelma Saunders and Latisha Benneman. She was paid 4 cents a bushel for lifting sacks of potatoes, often earning more than her male counterparts. She was also known for feeding the farmhands. Amazingly, she always had enough food, no matter how many showed up to be fed.

She then went to work for Lawrence R. Condon from 1953 to 1966, before going on to work for Edmond C. Monell, from 1966 to 1980 as a domestic engineer.

She attended Mt. Pool Baptist Church in Fords, but set out for the north as a teenager. When she arrived in New York, she was reacquainted with her friend, Ms. Saunders. A woman of prayer, she led prayer meetings at her home on Flying Point Road. She established the first Prayer Band at the First Baptist Church in Southampton, where she was also a member of the Busy Bee Club, which helped raise funds for the ministry. Her outreach extended to the First Church of God in Christ in Bridgehampton. She oversaw the Prayer and Bible Band for many years until failing health stopped her. It was through prayer and the Bible that she connected with her “prayer warriors,” Lenora Morgan, Ethelyn Haywood, Thelma Malone and Kitty White.

Ms. Johnson was predeceased by her husband, Harrison Johnson; a son, Harrison Noltenius Johnson; three grandchildren, Harrison Johnson III, Donald Johnson and Mary White; and a daughter-in-law, Geraldine Johnson.

She is survived by four children, Barbara Ann and her husband William “Sonny” Turpin, Willie Donald and his wife Betty Jean, Hazel Simms, and Phillip Bradley and his wife Yolanda, all of Southampton; a sister-in-law, Mamie Johnson of Southampton; 16 grandchildren, Helen Turpin, Debbie Johnson, William Turpin Jr., Kevin Turpin, Barbara Leathers, Michele Lanham, Tami Brown, David Johnson, Mark Johnson, Benny Franklin, Marques Johnson, and locally, Alice Johnson, Sonya Allen, Shonda Campbell, Phillip Johnson Jr. and Brandon Johnson. She is also survived by a godson, Barry Wyche; 34 great-grandchildren; and 20 great-great-grandchildren; and a number of nieces and nephews, including Richard Hite Sr. of Southampton, cousins and friends. She was predeceased by a godchild, Lucille Morgan.

Viewing and a funeral were held on Saturday, January 5, at the Southampton Full Gospel Church, where Bishop Frank Anthone White officiated and the Reverend Thomas J. Williams delivered the eulogy. Pallbearers were her grandsons, David, Mark, Phillip, Marques, Brandon and Benny. Interment followed at Southampton Cemetery.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton.