Trailblazer Mary Johnston ‘just had such a big heart’
Mary Johnston began her teaching career in 1950, in a one-room schoolhouse on Bearinger Road in Waterloo.
Over the years she inspired generations of students and teachers, became the first female principal in a Waterloo Region public school, was named Ontario’s outstanding educator of the year, and had a school in Waterloo named after her.
She loved her trail-blazing job so much that she never really left it.
Long after her official retirement date in 1987, Johnston continued to meet with colleagues. She also regularly took in celebrations, performances and special events at the school that bore her name on Brynhurst Boulevard.
On her 80th birthday, the whole school threw her a surprise party. Hundreds of children sang to her and offered her birthday wishes. The celebrations included a slide show of her life, and she was given a key to the building.
On the weekend, Johnston died “naturally and unexpectedly” with her family at their cottage, according to the obituary from the funeral home. She was 87.
“I was actually shocked” at the news, said public school trustee John Hendry, who counted her as a close friend.
“You know it’s going to come, but you don’t want to think about it,” he said.
“She just had such a big heart,” Hendry said. “I was always so proud to know her.”
Hendry met Johnston when she was principal at MacGregor Senior Public School in Waterloo. Hendry’s son, Steven, has cerebral palsy and was a student there.
He remembers Johnston as welcoming and communicative, always doing whatever she could to ensure Steven felt secure and supported.
Hendry described Johnston as an “icon” for local education.
She wrote a book on education in Waterloo Region in the 19th century, “The Trail of the Slate.” Through the teacher federations, she advocated for equal treatment of women in the sector.
She won many awards locally for her contributions to public education and to the community, and was inducted into the Waterloo County Hall of Fame.
Johnston became principal at four elementary schools in Waterloo: Brighton, Winston Churchill, Keatsway and MacGregor.
In a style that was then considered unorthodox, she got out of her office whenever she could.
She would walk around the halls, visit classrooms and chat with the students, many of whom she knew by name.
“I enjoy the students,” she said. “I want them to know me as a person, to show me the good things and the bad.
“They’re the purpose of the place, and I’ve got to be where the students are if I’m going to do my job properly.”
If she had to discipline a child she would offer a cookie to him or her, before explaining why she was unhappy with the behaviour, and what she expected to be done differently in future.
It’s often said that no one really dies if they are remembered by the people whose lives they touched.
If that’s so, then Johnston is still with many of us.
“Mary is a daily inspiration for me in the classroom,” said Laura Briant, who worked with Johnston in Waterloo, and is now a teacher at Riverside Public School in Cambridge.
A memorial service will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 54 Queen St. N., Kitchener.