Obituary: Sally Patrick Johnson, 1929-2023 

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• Courtesy
• Sally Patrick Johnson

Sally Patrick Johnson died peacefully at the Wake Robin Life Plan Community on August 5, 2023, with her family by her side.

Sally was born in Burlington, Vt., on April 6, 1929, the daughter of Jane Howe and Robert Fleming Patrick. She attended Burlington Junior High and then the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Mass., and graduated in 1947.

After graduating in 1951 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., with a BS in sociology, she moved to Seattle, Wash., and married fellow Northwestern student, James H. Johnson, of Oklahoma City. They restored two houseboats in Seattle, and their son, Stephen Patrick Johnson, was born there in 1952.

Later, Sally moved to New York City, where she worked with book publishers Prentice Hall and MacMillan and went on to publish three anthologies with Harper & Row. She was married to literary agent Max Gartenberg before moving to the town she loved for a lifetime, Essex, N.Y.

In Essex, she restored 11 old houses, all with great professional help. In 2009, she was recognized for this work by the Essex Community Heritage Organization (ECHO) and the Essex County Adirondack Garden Club. She was a member of the Town of Essex Planning Board for 17 years, the Essex County Planning Board, the Essex County Soil and Water District Board, and was on the boards of ECHO and the Adirondack Land Trust. In 1988, she founded the Kelsey Trust, which continues to support the environment, education, health, and children and families at risk in the Champlain Valley.

In 1999, while continuing to live in Essex, she became a part-time resident of Wake Robin, where she was a vigorous participant in the annual tag sale. She was very fond of the staff in the Linden Health Center, where she spent her final years, and they were fond of her.

Sally is survived and treasured by her son, Stephen, and his wife, Paula Doherty Johnson; her grandson Patrick and his wife, Shelsey Weinstein Johnson; her grandson Samuel and his wife, Perry Blank; her granddaughter, Susannah; her great-granddaughters, Winifred and Fern, daughters of Patrick and Shelsey; her sister, Harriet (Happy) Patrick, and brother-in-law, Richard Cunningham, of Charlotte; and much-loved nephews, cousins and their families.

A memorial service will be held in Essex, N.Y., in the fall. Contributions in Sally’s memory may be made to Patient Choices Vermont (P.O. Box 671, Shelburne, VT 05482); any chapter of Planned Parenthood; or any worthy charity.