Mrs. Jimmie Joyce Vanzant Johns, 91, of Yulee, Fla., passed away Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at UF Health North in Jacksonville.
Born May 28, 1927 in Kings Ferry, Fla., she was a daughter of the late James William and Irene Vanzant. She graduated from high school in Hilliard and met her future husband, Nolan Johns, “uptown” in Fernandina while she was visiting her sister, Marjorie Johnson. She was a lifelong resident of Nassau County and longtime resident of Fernandina Beach.
Her marriage to Nolan would last 68 years until his passing in 2013. Together they would raise a family and serve their church, Five Points Baptist Church, for many years. Across those years she would remain active in the church where she taught Sunday school and worked in a variety of ministries. She had the special honor of being the first “Youngest” mother to be recognized by the church on Mother’s Day and was honored as the “Oldest” mother last Mother’s Day.
Her family will remember her as being a determined lady who would work in her yard and amaze them with her strength and endurance. Memories of her using anything she found to complete a task in the yard would always bring a smile to their faces. Whether it was a pair of scissors to trim a bush or a kitchen knife to hack away at limb, she would find a way to accomplish what she wanted to do.
After her love of her Lord and Savior and her church, she always loved and cherished her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by her siblings, Broward Vanzant, Bernard Vanzant, Marjorie Irene Vanzant Johnson, and Sadie Vanzant Peeples.
She leaves behind her daughter, Judy Johns Cannon and her husband, Arthur Eugene, of Yulee, and her son, James Nolan Johns and his wife, Ronda, of Kingsland, Ga.; and her grandchildren, Tamara Sloan, Jamie Johns, Justin Johns, Zachary Johns, Jessica Hutto, Art Cannon, Genia Rich, Pam Hammond, and Roy Cannon; as well as several great grandchildren and extended family members.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 23, 2018 at Five Points Baptist Church with Pastor Frank Camarotti officiating. The family will receive friends at the church beginning at 10 a.m. She will be laid to rest next to her husband at 2 p.m. in Brickyard Cemetery near Kings Ferry.
Please share your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors