Amelia was born October 24, 1928 in Schoolfield.  This community was later annexed and is now part of Danville Virginia. Schoolfield was a mill town for the then Dan River fabrics industrial complex. The company provided all the homes, schools, and recreation for the workers in the plant. Growing up in this environment created a unique childhood of stories that she later wrote down in a collection of short stories. These stories were shared with family and friends to their enjoyment. This collection of stories was titled “My life on Dallas Avenue”.  The stories tell through the eyes of a child the travails of she and her two siblings Doug and June as well as other personalities living in the area.

She and her family had a deep spiritual heritage that began with her grandfather James Oliver Reynolds who learned the truth from the bible in the late 1800s. She and her family were part of the original Danville Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  She used to say “the only excuse we had for not making our Christian meetings was if the bus did not run”. An anointed brother from the congregation would faithfully come by in his Hudson Terraplane to take the family out in service each week.  She dedicated her life to Jehovah on April 22, 1939 and remained active for 78 Years. Her life covered many theocratic milestones; The Photo-drama of creation, phonograph activity, sound cars, testimony cards, WBBR, Large Conventions at Yankee Stadium, MEPS, to JW Broadcasting which she watched faithfully each month.

Most people wonder why Amelia was called “Meegee” by everyone who knew her.  This name was created by her two siblings who although older were still young and simply could not pronounce the name Amelia!  She used to always say “unfortunately it stuck” . Later she came to embrace the nickname and would even encourage people to use it. The name Amelia came from the famous female pilot Amelia Earhart who was in the papers and her mother Lola simply liked the sound of the name. 

When she was 16 years old she met William Sexton Johnson at a gathering in Danville. Sexton was a special pioneer during World War II and the two of them exchanged addresses.  Of course she was too young to enter into a serious relationship so they wrote a few letters and visited to each other occasionally for the next 4 years.  On January 15, 1949 they were married and they both decided to move to Raleigh.

Sexton took a job at Pine State Creamery and eventually Crown Zellerbach,  on some evenings he  played music professionally in Dinner clubs in the area.  Amelia went to work at what is now known as the Bank of America. They lived in several rented houses in downtown Raleigh until eventually buying a house and moving to the Longview Gardens subdivision. At this time there were only (2) congregations in Raleigh. The South and Central Congregations and both used rented facilities. The young couple attended the Zebulon congregation so they could care for Sexton’s aging parents. They were privileged to attend several large historic conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium.  

On May 8, 1964 they had their only child William Mark Johnson. Eventually Sexton retired in 1970 from his day job but continued playing music. Amelia began working for manpower to have greater flexibility to spend time with Mark.  Some of the highlights of the 1970s was the family attending the International Conventions  in Halifax Canada and Honolulu Hawaii in 1973 and 1978. In 1979 the family visited all of the Bethel complexes.  In 1982 with Mark finishing school she again took a permanent job with Wake Medical Center working in hospital administration. At this time in the early 1980s she and Sexton bought property and built the house she lived in for the rest of her life.  After a few years Sexton became ill and passed away in 1988, 20 days shy of being married 40 years.  The loss was very difficult as she had enjoyed a good marriage and she had to make the adjustment to living alone. To help with her being alone she loved pets particularly rat terriers.

She was happy when her son Mark also went to Danville Virginia and found his wife 40 years after her marriage to Sexton in 1949.  On September 16, 1989 Mark and Anne Catherine Powell were married and later gave her a grandson Micah.  She loved being a grandma so she retired and helped Mark and Anne Catherine take care of Micah a few days a week.  She was a wonderful influence on Micah as she had been on Mark. The family remained very close over the years living just a few miles apart for 28 years. Her home was very inviting and peaceful and was known for having many gatherings over the years. Her home was used for meetings for service, book studies, pioneer dinners, and other theocratic events for over 30 years.  She enjoyed making friends and continued doing so in the Marsh Creek Congregation until her last days. 

 Service Information