John Bligh
- Retired teacher
Louisa Johnston had a deep commitment to the UFT for 62 of her 95 years, serving for 29 years as an art teacher and devoting 32 years more to being a retiree union activist.
As a young art teacher, starting at PS 163 in Manhattan in 1958, Louisa walked the picket lines in the teacher strikes of ’63 and ’68 and served as a chapter leader. She retired in 1987 from the School for the Deaf in Manhattan and devoted her boundless energy and passion to the UFT’s Retired Teachers Chapter.
Louisa died of an intestinal infection on June 9.
A ubiquitous figure throughout union headquarters, Louisa was declared a “joyful presence on the 17th floor,” the busy center of retiree activities, by RTC Chapter Leader Tom Murphy, who knew her well and relied on her unstinting willingness to do whatever was needed.
“Louisa was an unpretentious worker who got things done,” Murphy said. “When she reported back to me on meetings I asked her to cover, she was always spot on with perceptive and droll critiques. She had a positive irreverence and groaned about pomposity and those she viewed as self-important.”
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “Louisa was like a grandmother to me. She watched over me and, most important, she always watched over this union.
“The world was a better place because of Louisa,” he said. “I will miss her dearly.”
Louisa grew up in a labor household in the Bronx co-ops and attended Walton HS. During WWII she volunteered as a nurses’ aide. At the City University of New York, Louisa met John Johnston. They married and, after retiring from the New York Police Department, John also became a teacher. Together they became tireless supporters of workers’ rights.
Daughter Elinor remembers going as a child with her mother to visit then UFT President Albert Shanker who was in jail for calling the teachers’ strike. She spoke of her mother’s lack of ego. “She didn’t mind stuffing envelopes and she spoke to everybody, and always as equals,” Elinor said.
Mel Aaronson, a retired UFT treasurer, credits Louisa with helping to keep the union’s Jewish Labor Committee alive. He admired her willingness to speak out when no one else did. “She always had a point of view and shared it,” Aaronson said.
Louisa had what her son, Trevor, also a retired teacher, called “a wacky sense of humor.” And it was that sense of humor that accounts for the many Louisa stories. Among them is the story of the day in 2008 when Louisa came out of the subway at Wall Street on her way to union headquarters across Broadway only to find her way completely blocked because of the ticker tape parade for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Undeterred, Louisa, then in her early 80s, climbed over the barricades and continued on her way. For that, she was given the RTC’s newly minted Left Wing Nut Job award.
The union honored Louisa with the Marsh/Raimo award for “unstinting devotion to the cause of unionism,” the Pearl Berger award for “steadfast commitment, dedicated service and active political participation,” and several community service awards.
“She was one of those modest grass roots union loyalists and activists who might otherwise go unrecognized in the shadow of those more visibly prominent,” Murphy said.
In addition to Elinor and Trevor, Louisa is survived by two grandchildren.
