September 29, 2008 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Helen Gruner Johnson. She did not live to celebrate such a milestone, but her extended family found time to remember and pay tribute to her rather remarkable life.

She was born on September 29, 1908, in Winfield, Marion County, Alabama, the sixth child of the local railroad station agent, Benjamin Sam Gruner and his wife, Ellen White Fant. When she was 16, she married William (Bill) Sterling Johnson (1903-1973) in February 1925. He was working in an iron mine near Birmingham, but had ambitions that soon took him to Detroit where he became a tool and die maker for the Ford Motor Company.

Helen took advantage of the opportunities offered in Detroit. She continued her education at the Wayne State University and the Helen Hopkins School of Music, where she became proficient in concert piano. She also enrolled in a writing course and for a while was a newspaper contributor, wring a column called “Tuning in Detroit.”

Bill did well in his job, rising to supervisory level and by 1940 they were able to buy a new home in the Dearborn suburbs. She became a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, soon becoming a Worthy Matron. She was also active in the Church of Christ as a Sunday School Teacher. During this period they raised three children, Bill Jr., James and Virginia (Ginger).

They returned to Alabama in 1960 where they bought a general store in the Isbell community near Russellville. They lived nearby in the Fant home, the home where her parents had met so many years before. In addition to managing the store, Helen found time to delve into family history, something that had been her interest for many years. She began genealogy courses at the Samford University in Birmingham and eventually became a Certified Genealogical Records Searcher (CGRS).

She continued her work after Bill died in 1973. She became a member of the Tennessee Valley and the Natchez Trace Genealogical Societies as well as the National Genealogical Society. In addition to tracing her own lineage and becoming a Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR), she became Regent of a local DAR Chapter. She was included in several Alabama directories, including “Alabama’s Distinguished” and “Personalities of the South.”

Helen died of lung cancer at the age of 81 on February 25, 1990 in Pensacola, where she had been living with her daughter Ginger. She had led a full life and had touched many lives, so we take this occasion to pay her a well deserved tribute on the 100th anniversary of her birth. May you be resting in peace, Helen Gruner Johnson!