1946
Janibeth
2022
Janibeth Johnson
May 16, 1946 — March 4, 2022
Janibeth Johnson Obituary
Janibeth Johnson was born May 16, 1946 in the Spring Hill Section of Mansfield, CT and died March 4, 2022 in her home in Mansfield Center, CT. She attended Coventry Day School and E. O. Smith High School. In her junior year at EOS, she won the statewide scholastic writing competition with her essay on bird-feeding in winter (“Our Winter Guests”). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa/Phi Kappa Phi from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, with a major in German and English and a minor in theater. Her life-long love of theater blossomed under the inspired teaching of Puppet Master Frank W. Ballard. Over a period of 15 years, Ms. Johnson worked both independently and with the Univ. of CT puppeteers, pioneering innovative techniques in shadow puppet animation for the overhead projector. This included a self-published book, which helped make her an internationally recognized expert on the subject. She taught puppet workshops and coordinated puppet exhibits during this period, and performed with Frank Ballard’s puppet opera troupe at Goodspeed Opera House, the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center (Washington D.C.), and with the Hartford Symphony at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford. In 1987, she co-founded the Puppet Preservation Trust (later known as the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry) to establish the first puppet museum in the State of Connecticut.
In the 1980’s, Ms. Johnson left Storrs for Willimantic and Hartford, and became active in the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgender Civil Rights Movement. Her many other activities included working as a Univ. of CT Librarian, at the Willington Wild Animal Farm, and tutoring English as a Second Language. She also continued her late mother’s animal rescue work, and did pioneering research work with Dr. Randy Frost on OCD and chronic clutter. She leaves her niece Alice McKeever and nephew David Johnson, great grand-nieces Morgan McKeever, Sarah McKeever, Kayleigh Johnson and Alexa Johnson, and several aunts and cousins and many special friends. She is predeceased by her father Stewart McNeil Johnson, her mother Mary (Carkin) Johnson, and her brother Seth Johnson. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Frank Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at Storrs.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Janibeth Johnson, please visit our floral store.
Read More
Janibeth Johnson was born May 16, 1946 in the Spring Hill Section of Mansfield, CT and died March 4, 2022 in her home in Mansfield Center, CT. She attended Coventry Day School and E. O. Smith High School. In her junior year at EOS, she won the statewide scholastic writing competition with her essay on bird-feeding in winter (“Our Winter Guests”). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa/Phi Kappa Phi from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, with a major in German and English and a minor in theater. Her life-long love of theater blossomed under the inspired teaching of Puppet Master Frank W. Ballard. Over a period of 15 years, Ms. Johnson worked both independently and with the Univ. of CT puppeteers, pioneering innovative techniques in shadow puppet animation for the overhead projector. This included a self-published book, which helped make her an internationally recognized expert on the subject. She taught puppet workshops and coordinated puppet exhibits during this period, and performed with Frank Ballard’s puppet opera troupe at Goodspeed Opera House, the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center (Washington D.C.), and with the Hartford Symphony at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford. In 1987, she co-founded the Puppet Preservation Trust (later known as the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry) to establish the first puppet museum in the State of Connecticut.
In the 1980’s, Ms. Johnson left Storrs for Willimantic and Hartford, and became active in the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgender Civil Rights Movement. Her many other activities included working as a Univ. of CT Librarian, at the Willington Wild Animal Farm, and tutoring English as a Second Language. She also continued her late mother’s animal rescue work, and did pioneering research work with Dr. Randy Frost on OCD and chronic clutter. She leaves her niece Alice McKeever and nephew David Johnson, great grand-nieces Morgan McKeever, Sarah McKeever, Kayleigh Johnson and Alexa Johnson, and several aunts and cousins and many special friends. She is predeceased by her father Stewart McNeil Johnson, her mother Mary (Carkin) Johnson, and her brother Seth Johnson. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Frank Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at Storrs.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Janibeth Johnson, please visit our floral store.
Read More
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Janibeth Johnson, please visit our flower store.
Guestbook
Visits: 0
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors