Norma Ruth Johnson

Norma Ruth (Hewett) Johnson of Commerce, Texas, passed away August 6, 2025, in her home at the age of 90, of complications of Myelofibrosis. She was a kind soul with a passionate curiosity about words, history and life. She was a loving and loved wife, mother and grandmother, who taught her daughters and granddaughters to love learning, stay informed, treasure reading, enjoy cooking and baking, be involved in politics, and express themselves creatively.

Norma was born in Durant, Oklahoma, to Harry and Ruth (Womack) Hewett. She attended Wellesley College for two years before transferring to the University of Oklahoma to obtain a teaching degree. While at OU, she hitched a ride home to Durant with her brother's tennis partner, R. Paul Johnson, whom she married in 1957. They had two daughters, Amy Johnson of Austin and Ellie (Johnson) Domínguez, of Eugene, Oregon. Norma returned to school when her daughters were teenagers. She was awarded a Doctor of Education in 1980 from ETSU where she served as an instructor for three years. Then, she taught sixth-grade Language Arts at Greenville Intermediate School from 1980 to1996. When her first granddaughter was born, she retired and became an active grandmother. Each week, she made homemade cards in which Paul wrote stories and interesting facts to his three granddaughters.

Norma traveled, took up quilting, printmaking, watercolor painting, and calligraphy. She read fiction and non-fiction extensively and was an active member of a book group in Commerce. Regularly, she worked out at the Morris Rec Center, even when she had to use a walker to go.

She is preceded in death by her husband Paul, and her two brothers, Harry and Bill Hewett. She is survived by Amy Johnson and her husband Michael Savage and their daughter Rachel Savage; and Ellie Domínguez and her daughters, Emily and Allison Domínguez.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Commerce Public Library or the First United Methodist Church.