Wilma Lee Pitre

Wilma Lee Johnson-Pitre, (Mah), 94, transitioned peacefully on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, surrounded by her loving family, at the home of her daughter, Diane Jackson. Wilma was born on April 21, 1925, in Ringgold, Louisiana, to the Late James McKinley Johnson, and Willie Elvester Glover-Johnson, where she was raised in a Christian home, and where she accepted Christ at the ripe old age of 6. She always knew that her calling was to serve the Lord. 
Wilma's early childhood education began in the Caddo Parrish Segregated Schools in Ringgold, Louisiana. After attending grade school, the Johnson Family relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana to an area known as the "Village". The Village was a privately owned family housing community built on the land owned by Wilma's grandparents, (Grandma and Grandpa Hall). The Village encompassed aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren, etc., and it afforded the families with  above-standard and safe housing. It was also where family holiday feasts, birthdays, weddings, funerals, and church services were held. 
While living in the Village, Wilma attended and graduated from the Robinson School. The Robinson School was run and operated by a group of professional family educators. Wilma's graduating class consisted of nine students, with all exceeding well above grade level. 
After graduating high school, Wilma worked as a cashier at the Barksdale airbase in Shreveport for a brief period of time before relocating to Portland, Oregon, in 1943, with her Aunt Dora Johnson.  Wilma met and married William Bill) Joseph Pitre, in July, 1944, in Portland, Oregon. They were blessed with two children. Bill introduced his lovely 2 year old son, Bill, Jr., from a previous marriage to the family, and to this day, Bill, Jr., and wife Geri, remain an integral part of the family. Bill and Wilma were married for 40 years before his death in 1984,  Wilma attended Licensed Practical Nursing School in 1953, where she graduated 2nd in a class of  9 students. She worked full time for the next 25 years at
University of Oregon Medical School, Multnomah County Hospital, and she worked part-time for several years thereafter. 
Wilma loved watching wrestling, baseball, and basketball. She was a master gardener and loved her roses. She tirelessly babysat many kids, including her
grandchildren and great grandchildren. Wilma's family was the pride and joy of her life. The legacy of her kind spirit, her love of the Lord, and her zest of life will live on in the lives of her family. She was an inspiration to all who knew her. No one was ever a stranger to her. 
Mom never knew what is to fail, she never knew what it is to be too old, or too tired, or too "too”, to do anything. She selflessly gave of herself in any capacity she could, and where she could. She wasn't an ordained minister, but she certainly met all the requirements of one. 
Wilma was preceded in death by her husband, William Joseph Pitre, Sr; her son, Arnold Pitre; parents, James and Willie Elvester Johnson; brothers, Levan Johnson, Sr, Willie Perry Johnson, Dale Kapus Johnson, and Donzell Johnson; sisters, Velma Jane Johnson-Cration, and Ruth Oneida Johnson-Harvey; great-grandsons, Issac James West, and twins Joshua & Jeremiah West.

Cherishing precious memories of her are: Daughter, Diane Cross-Jackson, (Samuel); Son, William Joseph Pitre, Jr. (Geraldine), of Denver, Colorado; and four siblings; Osby
Johnson of Shreveport, Louisiana, Eunice Johnson-Brooks of Shreveport, Louisiana; Roland Johnson of Seat Pleasant, Maryland, (Rosetta); and Heloyce Johnson-Kinnermon of Turlock, California. Wilma is also survived by 7 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 10 great great grandchildren, and host of cousins, nieces, and
godchildren, and exchange students.

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