‘Her smile would light up the room’: Simone Johnson, hair braider and mom, dies at 21
Many 21-year-olds find their fun at clubs and parties. For Simone “Moni” Johnson, that place was with family.
She was the source of encouragement when things got hard for those around her, her relatives say.
“Anyone who met her would tell you about how her smile would light up the room,” says her older sister, Erica Woods. “We are all missing that goofiness. We can laugh and joke, but nobody will be able to replace that joy that she brought into our lives.”
Johnson, a Kansas City native who graduated from Center High School in 2019, died May 25 at the age of 21 in a one-car accident. Johnson was heading home from work with her fiancé, Rámone Wooten Sr., and two others. While the other passengers were injured, Johnson was the only fatality.
Woods thinks it is important that people know the seriousness of wearing seat belts.
Johnson’s death leaves a void in the family once occupied by a contagious laugh and a huge smile, Woods says.
“We are all just going through the motions right now. We have our good days and our bad days. I have days where I don’t know how to go on and be normal. It isn’t easy, but we know somehow life has to go on without her,” says Woods.
Johnson was an avid basketball player in her younger years. Woods remembers the hardships Johnson faced as a young mother, but she never let circumstances break her spirits. Instead, she continued to always bring happiness into the day.
Woods will remember her younger sister as a person who was shy until she got comfortable around people, but once she loved you, her dedication and dependability were undeniable.
“She was just so caring and loving. Always positive with a very giving spirit. She did everything for her family and the other people in her life,” says Woods.
Though she worked in sales for Sun Solar, a solar panel company, Johnson was known for her passion for braiding hair and hoped to turn it into a full-time occupation one day. She not only braided hair on the side to supplement her income but also regularly braided her sisters’ and niece’s hair. Woods says she loved to help people look beautiful.
She would post pictures of the masterfully braided hairstyles showing the talent and joy she brought into the lives of her clients. She would also post pictures of her son and her fiance’s daughter, whom she called her “bonus child.”
Hundreds of Facebook posts over the past few weeks display the extent of loss felt by those who knew her:
“I’m devastated, hurt and heartbroken over the phone call I received about a beautiful soul I truly loved and cared for and looked at as if she were my own.”
“We should never have to go through losing our babies before its our time to go.”
“I hate making post like this (broken heart emoji) God gave you your wings yesterday Cuzz.”
“Still in disbelief, I literally cannot stop thinking about you! RIP baby girl I love you.”
Funeral services for Johnson were held June 2 at the Greater Infallible Word Church, with a massive outpouring of family, friends, clients and acquaintances. It was described as a “beautiful service,” with Johnson’s family dressed in purple (her favorite color), massive flower arrangements sent with condolences, and a horse-drawn carriage which carried the casket to its final resting place.
She is survived by her son, Rámone Wooten Jr.; her bonus daughter, Zaylah Wooten; her fiancé, Rámone Wooten Sr; her mother, Shaunta Howard; her father, Sloan Johnson; her sisters, Erica Woods and Sloane Johnson; her maternal grandparents, Kem Gines and Charles Emery; two nieces, Sa’ryah and Venus; three nephews, Devin Jr., Elijah and SaMaud; and extended family Pierre Phillips, A’rius, Pierre Jr., and a host of friends, aunts, uncles and other relatives.
Other remembrances
Anna Marie Gresham
Anna Marie Gresham, a retired baker and environmental service worker, died on June 8. She was 95.
She was born Anna Marie Adams on Oct. 24, 1926, in Kansas City to Richard Cranston and Janie Bell Blanks Adams. Gresham, the third of six children, was educated in Kansas City Public Schools.
From an early age she enjoyed cooking and baking, which would later take her into the culinary fields, working for the same district she was taught in.
She would go on to work at Central Junior High School, baking desserts for students. She retired from Western Missouri Mental Health Center after years of working in environmental services.
She married Sylvester Winfield and had her first child, Sylvester Jr. Her husband died in 1958. She remarried in 1964 to Xenoph Gresham, with whom she would spend the next 37 years of her life.
She and her siblings were the grandchildren of Mary Stewart, one of the founders of St. Matthew AME Zion Church, which would lead to a lifelong passion within the congregation. She would serve on the Adult Usher Board and Culinary Committee, and was a former local chairman and life matron of the Overseas Missionary Society.
She is survived by son Sylvester “Spike” B. Winfield; daughter Diana Winfield; grandson Marcel A. Ferguson; granddaughter Brooke Winfield; five great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Elsie Roberta French
Elsie Roberta French, loving mother and grandmother, died May 18 at the age of 103.
She was born Elsie Nance on July 4, 1918, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to parents James Nance and Hazel Rogan Nance, the second of seven children. The family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, when French was 5 years old. She and her siblings attended Phillips Elementary School and Northeast Junior High School.
She would go on to marry Hezekiah French Sr., and both became members of First Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas. She remained involved in the church in various capacities until the age of 99.
She gave birth to eight children. She was preceded in death by husband and four of her sons, John Barnett, Kenneth Barnett, Thomas Barnett and Hezekiah French Jr.
She is survived by her daughters Yolande White, Leatha Ingram and Maeday Howell; a son, Michael; younger sister, Sherell Smith-Lynch; 13 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
