Shirley Johnson

03/18/2022

Shirley Ann Muldoon Johnson, 88, of Oakland, California and formerly of Orange and Northford, passed away on Friday, March 18, 2022.

She was the wife of Charles L. Johnson who passed away in 2013. Shirley was born in New Haven on August 24, 1933; daughter of the late William Muldoon, Sr. and Mildred Higgins Muldoon of New Haven.

Shirley attended high school at St. Mary’s in New Haven (where she met Charles) and attended the University of Connecticut for two years, studying Business Administration. She married Charles on January 9, 1956 and they started a family together. After their children were grown, she attended Southern Connecticut State University part-time, graduating in 1982 with a BA in Art History.

She continued her education part-time at Wesleyan University while working, ultimately receiving her GLS (Graduate of Liberal Studies) in 1989.

She was employed by the Foote School, The Fund for Yale, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Yale Visitor Information Center and became an ESL (English as a second language) tutor in her later years.

Shirley loved Long Island Sound and was an avid sailor with Charles on their sailboat, SeaJay. She travelled the world with Charles and on her own, and shared her passions for learning, language and art with her many friends and family members.

Mother of Lauren (Timothy) Johnson of Oakland, CA, Charles (Maika) Johnson, Jr. of Guilford and Nantucket and Robert Johnson of Milbridge, ME. Motherin-law of Maria Johnson of Northford, CT. Grandmother of Kimberly Johnson (Kurt) Weiss, David, Sandra, Christopher (Emma), Evan (Katie), Caitlin (Daniel) Johnson Malicki, Nathan Johnson and Kate (Geoffrey) Johnson Close. Gram Shirl of Francis Mildred Muldoon (Timothy) O’Brien. Greatgrandmother of seven.

She was the sister of Joseph Muldoon of Glastonbury, formerly of Madison, and the late William Muldoon, of Huntington.

There will be a celebration of her life at St. Thomas More Chapel, 268 Park Street, New Haven at 11:00 on Friday May 6, 2022. Interment will follow in Northford Cemetery In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to American Stroke Association at: www. stroke.org or Alzheimer’s Association at: www.alz.org