Mrs. Pearl Sligh-Johnson

Services for Mrs. Pearl Sligh-Johnson will be held on Sunday, July 5, 2020 at 1:00 P.M at A. A. Dicks Funeral Home Sullivan Chapel, 2548 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Interment will take place in The Promised Land Cemetery. Please click the link below to view services for Mrs. Pearl Sligh-Johnson https://www.facebook.com/A-A-Dicks-Funeral-Home-Sullivan-Chapel-115729839828313/ Mrs. Pearl Edna Sligh Johnson entered eternal rest on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 after an extended illness. Mrs. Johnson was born on April 15, 1937 in Hackensack, New Jersey to the late Charles D. and Ruby C. Sligh. She joined New Bethel AME Church, in Lexington, SC at an early age. She was educated in Lexington County Schools and graduated from Rosenwald School in Lexington. She attended Allen University in Columbia, where she received her formal music training and majored in Music Education. Mrs. Johnson was extremely gifted at playing the piano and the organ. As a young member of New Bethel, she served as the church organist. In 1957, she was united in holy matrimony to the late Rev. Dr. Clydell Johnson. To this union three children were born. She was preceded in death by her husband Rev. Johnson (2008), daughter, Jewel Marie Johnson (2001) and son, Mark Anthony Johnson (2016). In the early 1960s, Mrs. Johnson moved with her husband, who was a Baptist pastor, and children to Asheville, North Carolina. She spent a large part of her married life playing the organ in churches, where her husband pastored. Aunt Pearl, as she was so affectionately known, was a tremendous inspiration to her nieces and nephews’ love for music. At family gatherings, she would always check to see how they were coming along with their instruments and musical gifts. Aunt Pearl was quiet but loving and had an infectious laugh and smile that would light up the room. She enjoyed hosting the family on trips to the World’s Fair, Biltmore House and Gardens and numerous trips throughout the mountains of North Carolina. As her health declined, the family moved back to her home town of Lexington. After her husband’s passing, she became a resident at Opus Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center. Her younger brother, Ralph H. Sligh, who preceded her in death in 2014, and his wife, Gardenia became a source of strength for her. Until her passing, Aunt Pearl still participated in family gatherings and even played the piano for her friends at the center. Mrs. Pearl Johnson leaves to mourn a son, Everett Kardell Johnson, of Asheville, North Carolina. Everett’s love for his wonderful mother is unmatched and he will carry her memory, artistic ability and quiet kindness in his heart forever. She also leaves a granddaughter, Mrs. Kayla Kelley, of North Carolina; two great grandchildren, Evona Kelley and Alexander Robbs; a sister-in-law, Gardenia Sligh; a nephew, Raphael (Piera) Sligh; a great niece, Bianca Elle Sligh; two nieces, Cordelia S. (Melvin) Postell and Elizabeth S. (Stephen) Jones; two great nephews, Solomon Jones and Shepherd Jones; and a maternal uncle, Lawrence Corley. Additionally, she leaves a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. On angel’s wings you were taken away, but in our hearts, you will always stay. We Love you Aunt Pearl. Please leave the family your condolences and prayers. The Sligh-Johnson family, acknowledges with grateful appreciation, all of your kind expressions of love and sympathy. Thank you for helping us care for our families. A. A. Dicks, Sr. and Staff.

Mrs. Pearl Sligh-Johnson

April 15, 1937 - July 1, 2020