Gretchen Johnsonbaugh - Resident of Lafayette, April 29, 1942 - July 2, 2011
Gretchen Johnsonbaugh passed away peacefully under Hospice care at the Bruns House facility in Alamo after a 14 month battle with a rare and not fully diagnosed abdominal condition. She was born in Ashland, Kentucky, and moved to Burbank, California as a 7 year old. She attended Burbank High School, and then attended UCLA, where she graduated from the nursing school as a Registered Nurse.
She met Bruce Johnsonbaugh at UCLA. They married in 1965, and had two daughters, Jody and Jennifer while they lived in Maryland and Virginia as Bruce served 4 years as an Army JAG officer. They settled happily in Lafayette in March, 1971 and have loved their same house, same neighborhood, same friends and Lafayette these past 40 years.
They have been dog lovers, raising Golden Retrievers and one Bernese Mountain dog. Gretchen's great passion in her working career was as a preschool teacher in Lafayette, and later in Alamo. In 1981 she co-founded Merriewood Children's Center in Lafayette with Diane Kisner. Gretchen and Diane worked together with Moyra Smith to found First Street Childrens' Center (now known as CATS), in Lafayette.
From 1999 to 2011 Gretchen was the Director of Meadowlark Children's Center, a preschool at the Mauzy School in Alamo. Gretchen loved seeing the typical children in the preschool interact with the special needs children of the Mauzy School. She became quite skilled in dealing with autistic children. One of her great rewards was helping to "bring back" children from early autism so they could return to mainstream classrooms. She had the patience of a saint with the 3-5 year olds and loved them all. For a number of years, she served as a Mentor to aspiring preschool directors and teachers.
She was absolutely devoted to her two daughters, Jody and Jenny, and to her 5 grandchildren, all of whom live close by in Lafayette. She is survived by Bruce, her devoted husband of 45 years, her daughters Jody Harris and Jennifer Davis, grandchildren Jack Davis, Phoebe Davis, Cooper Davis, Shane Harris, Austin Harris and brother Mike Lambert.
She is also proudly survived by hundreds of local youngsters whose lives she has touched at her preschools. A celebration of her life will be held at the new Veterans Memorial Building at 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette on Sunday, July 17, 2011 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Gretchen's family requests donations be made in her name to Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, P.O. Box 249, San Mateo, California 94401.
Published in Contra Costa Times from July 10 to July 12, 2011
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