DeAun Smith Johnson
Bossier City, LA – DeAun Smith Johnson passed away unexpectedly at her home in Bossier City, Louisiana on March 11, 2020. A memorial and remembrance event will be scheduled at a later date. Those who would like to be notified when this event is scheduled may email DeAun’s son Bart Johnson at jbart68@gmail.com.
DeAn was born on April 25, 1947 in Shreveport, Louisiana, the daughter and oldest child of James Baker Smith and Elaine Vanskike Smith. She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her younger brother Stewart Smith (Kathi) of Mt. Prospect, Illinois; her son Bart Johnson (Eden Steele) of Carbondale, Colorado; her two adored grandchildren, Chloe and Miles Johnson; her step sisters Kathy Jacobs, Suzy Halstead and Becky Whittemore; a nephew, Matthew Jacobs, and nieces Marietta Smith, Evelyn Smith, Meghan Cox, Kristin Miller, Gwen Long and Katie Knowles.
DeAun was raised in Bossier City, Louisiana. She attended Louisiana State University and graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1971. She married John Johnson of Shreveport, Louisiana in 1968, with whom she had her only child Bart. DeAun and John divorced in 1972 and she never remarried.
Ever adventurous, DeAun left the Bossier/Shreveport area in the mid-1970s to move to New Orleans where she worked for the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce for many years. She left New Orleans in 1990 to move to Tokyo, Japan and lived there until 1995, returning with a love of Japanese cooking and culture. DeAun eventually settled in the home in which she grew up in Bossier City, where she held various jobs and reconnected with the Bossier-area community. She most recently worked at the Sam’s Club in Bossier, and her family would like to thank all of her colleagues there. They were almost a second family and the outreach we have received from them has been touching and comforting.
DeAun loved cooking and cuisines from all over the world and was a lifelong avid reader and cross word puzzle expert. But most of all she loved her two grandchildren Chloe and Miles and made many trips to visit them, Bart and Eden in western Colorado. Most recently, she accompanied Chloe, Miles and Bart on a cherished long weekend trip to New York City where they saw a Broadway show, ate at fine restaurants, shopped and toured colleges. “Gram” will be sorely and forever missed.
Memorial donations can be made in memory of DeAun Johnson to The Providence House: https://theprovidencehouse.com/donate/.
