DR. RUBYE J. JOHNSON
Funeral services for Rubye J. Johnson will be held Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Mt. Pisgah AME Church, 217 W. Bartlette St., Sumter, with the Rev. Dr. E. Robert Thomas, pastor, officiating.
Dr. Rubye J. Johnson, 94, activist, educator, businesswoman and community matriarch, departed this life on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. She was born on Dec. 25, 1930, in Lancaster, South Carolina, to the late Pearlie Johnson Reed and Willie Smith.
Dr. Johnson was educated in the public schools of Lancaster County, South Carolina. She graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1949 at Lancaster Training School (later named Barr Street High School). She earned the A. B. Degree (cum laude) in English with a minor in Social Studies, having graduated from Benedict College, Columbia, in 1953. She earned the Master of Arts in Teaching English as A Secondary Language with an emphasis in Guidance from the Teacher’s College, Columbia University, New York City, New York, in 1964. Dr. Johnson, subsequently, had conferred upon her the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Benedict College and the honorary Doctor of Laws by Faith Grant College of Birmingham, Alabama. She received numerous awards and accolades during her career to include the Order of the Palmetto awarded by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2005.
Dr. Johnson was a faithful member of the AME Church from her early years of living until death. She grew up in the Saint Paul AME Church of Lancaster. Upon marrying the late Joseph B. Johnson Sr., she relocated to Sumter and joined First Baptist Church. Having kept ties to the AME Church, she would later return as a member of Mount Pisgah AME, where she served faithfully until her passing. She served joyfully and dutifully as a trustee, steward, class leader, Pastor’s Aid member, Social Action lead, lay member and choir member.
Dr. Johnson worked 33 years as executive director of Wateree Community Actions Inc. (WCAI), serving Lee, Clarendon, Kershaw, Richland and Sumter counties of South Carolina. After successfully developing, implementing and managing state and federally funded and regionally supported anti-poverty programs, projects and services, she retired in 2005. Among her greatest career accomplishments was the founding of the first Summer Head Start Program in Sumter County in 1965 and the conversion of the early childhood education program for low- or moderate-income families into a year-round program for preschoolers in both Sumter city and county. Head Start services, under her leadership, grew to serve increasing numbers of children and families within the WCAI four-county service area. In 1988, the governor asked her to provide emergency services to residents of Richland County. This expansion increased the agency’s service area to five counties. Her other accomplishments included the ground-up construction of two additional Head Start facilities, one of which is named in her honor, “The Rubye J. Johnson Head Start Center” in Sumter. Dr. Johnson also designed and operated the first rural transit system in South Carolina, “Operation Bus Stop,” which gave rise to the present-day Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority. Dr. Johnson co-founded and served as administrator-trustee of the South Carolina Employee Health and Welfare Insurance Company. She also co-founded the Sumter Phillip Rembert Tuskegee Airman Inc. and served as its first vice president. Dr. Johnson was instrumental in the development and launching of several programs, initiatives, organizations and services that, today, continue to improve the quality of life for the citizenry of our community locally, statewide and nationally. Dr. Johnson, from 1953 to 1967, taught English in the public schools of Lancaster, Clarendon and Sumter counties of South Carolina and was, for a time, president of the South Carolina Classroom Teachers’ Association. She changed careers in 1967 to join the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act “War on Poverty” movement as the assistant director of Sumter County Economic Opportunity Corporation Inc., which later renamed to Wateree Community Actions Inc. Dr. Johnson’s memberships and affiliations included the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the NAACP, the Federation of Negro Women, the Benedict College Alumni Association, the Columbia University Teachers College Alumni Association, the South Carolina Community Actions Agency Program Directors’ Association, the South Carolina Association of Human Service Agencies, Inc., the South Carolina Association of Community Action Partnerships, Inc., the National Democratic Committee, and the South Carolina State Head Start Association. Dr. Johnson was initiated into the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated Psi chapter in 1950 as an undergraduate at Benedict College. She has earned the distinction of being a “Diamond” member of the sorority which signifies 75 years of membership this year (2025). She also served as a past president of the Sumter chapter Eta Zeta Omega.
Surviving are two sons, the Rev. Joseph B. Johnson Jr. (Columbia) and Carnegie B. Johnson (Sumter); three grandchildren of Columbia, Joseph Benjamin Johnson III, Joshua Isaiah Johnson and Gabrielle Rubye Johnson; one great-granddaughter, Milan Rose Gieger; and host of other relatives.