Muriel S Johnson-Fattic

Born in London, England, Muriel grew up in Urbana, Illinois, the middle child in a close family of five: brother Marvin, sister Kristin (Shipley), and parents Minta and Arthur Secord. Muriel was vivacious, musical, and fun-loving, deeply committed to Christ, showing His joy to all she met.  The family spent time each summer at a family cabin on a Minnesota lake, a lake that she loved and visited until her last year. The family were stalwart members of the Free Methodist church, and all the siblings went to Greenville College. Muriel studied sociology at Greenville and worked in the Woodstock children’s home. At Greenville Muriel met the love of her life, Roger Johnson. They were married at the Urbana church and moved to Wilmore, Kentucky soon after where Roger would earn his degree in divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary. In their last year in Kentucky, Muriel and Roger welcomed into the world the first of their four children. Muriel and Roger’s calling took them to four churches over a long career: Albion, Illinois; First Church and Aldersgate, Indianapolis; and Winona Lake, Indiana.  Muriel’s vocation as a busy mother, pastor and conference superintendent’s wife, and later as a teacher, was a profound blessing to her children, parishioners, and her many friends. The space allotted here cannot begin to describe her devotion to family and the Lord, and stories of her love and good-natured common sense are treasured by those who knew her.  She and Roger retired to their beloved lake in Minnesota. After thirteen years there, Roger died suddenly of an aneurysm, leaving Muriel with memories of their marriage she would cherish to her final days. Four years later, Muriel wed Richard Fattic at the Arbor Church in Spring Arbor, Michigan. They spent eight happy years together until Dick died, and Muriel began living independently in an apartment in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Only last year did Muriel decide to leave her comfortable apartment with a view she loved of birds and trees, and move to assisted living. She died peacefully of natural causes, holding hands with one of her daughters and one of her granddaughters, as they sang of our Savior, “rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” 

Muriel is survived by four children and spouses, Bruce and Ann Brammer-Johnson of Keezletown, Virginia; David and Melody Johnson of Nashville, Tennessee; Linda and Mark Van Valin of Detroit, Michigan; and Judith and Bruce Young of Spring Hill, Kansas.

She was preceded in death by a grandson, and she is survived by eleven grandchildren and twenty-four great-grandchildren, each one of whom she prayed for by name until the very last. 

The funeral will take place on June 16, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Arbor Church in Spring Arbor, MI, with visitation and viewing starting at 10:00. Interment will follow at Spring Arbor Cemetery. at the Arbor Church in Spring Arbor, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to scholarships that Muriel and her late husband, Roger, established:

The “Rev. Roger and Muriel Secord Johnson Scholarship Fund”, Spring Arbor University, 106 E. Main, Spring Arbor, MI

The “Dr. Arthur W. and Minta Tenney Secord Endowed Scholarship”, Greenville University, 315 E. College Ave., Greenville, IL 62246

Please express your condolences to the family at www.watson-funeral-chapels.com

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