Kathie Johnston Obituary

Kathie Johnston

Kathie Ann (Pressnell) Johnston died of natural causes Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at Lewis Gale Hospital in Salem, Virginia. She was born March 8, 1948, in Findlay. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Mary Kathryn Pressnell.

Kathie graduated from Findlay High School in 1966. She attended Bowling Green University for one year and then transferred to Findlay College where she earned a degree in Elementary Education and graduated in 1971. She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years having taught in Stafford County, Virginia, Gainesville, Georgia, and Roanoke City schools. She retired from Roanoke City schools in 2014.

After college, Kathie moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, to begin her teaching career. It was there that she met her future husband, James W. Johnston, who was attending USMC Officer Candidate school at Quantico, Virginia. They married in 1974 and lived at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina. After completing military service, they lived in Gainesville, Georgia, Charleston, West Virginia, and then transferred to Roanoke, Virginia. They celebrated 48 years of marriage. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma teaching sorority and a member of Church of the Holy Spirit, where she was a church greeter.

Kathie is survived by her husband, James (Jim) W. Johnston; and two sons, James Ryan Johnston and his wife, Courtney, and grandsons, Jacob Mason and Isaac Lee, and son, Robert Andrew (Andy) Johnston and his wife, Hunter, and grandsons, James Grayson and William Walker; sister, Cindy Metzger and her husband, Joe; brother-in-law, Bob Johnston and his wife, Cathy; mother-in-law, Isabella Johnston of West Virginia; and many nieces and nephews.

Kathie and Jim loved and enjoyed family and friends. They were able to travel throughout Europe, Mediterranean and Caribbean Islands, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout the United States.

A service of Remembrance was 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, at Church of the Holy Spirit, 6011 Merriman Rd., Roanoke, Virginia, 24018. Those who wish to remember Kathie in a special way may make gifts in her memory to American Kidney Fund or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.