Obituary of Diane Capers Johnson

Diane Capers Johnson (82) was born February 27, 1929 in New London and died March 19, 2011 in Middletown. Daughter of James Reid Johnson and Neva Palmer Johnson of New London, she married her back door neighbor, George C. White of New London for 23 years. Diane Johnson was the granddaughter of George S. and Neva Fenno Palmer of New London. The Palmer family were benefactors to the city of New London and Connecticut College, donating the Palmer wing of the Lyman Allyn Museum and the Frank Loomis Palmer Auditorium, and were benefactors to the Loomis School in Windsor. She served on the board as Vice President of the Palmer Memorial Association, whose purpose was to provide scholarship and aid to the Montville Schools. Diane Johnson attended the Pequot Day School and Harbor School in New London, the Wheeler School in Providence, R.I. and Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. She raised her five children mostly in Essex. A talented musician, she taught piano and then moved "home" to Niantic, and later retired in Centerbrook until she moved to assisted living in Middletown in 2009. Her cute sense of humor charmed all. She was a proud nurse’s aide and LPN serving the Essex Rest Home, Pettipaug Manor and Saybrook Health Care, as well as private duty nursing. She is survived by three sisters: Anne Johnson Banks of Hartford, Connecticut, Neva Johnson Herrington of Alexandria, Virginia and Reida Johnson Kimmel of Eugene, Oregon; and five children, Shelley Capers Watanabe of Gloucester MA, James Reid White of Fairfield CT, Peter Shepherd White of New Haven CT, Neva Palmer White of Cromwell CT, and Charlotte Rebecca DeNicola of Stamford,CT, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held at the Robinson Wright and Weymer Funeral Home 34 Main Street in Centerbrook on Saturday April 2, 2011 at 11:00am. Burial will follow in the Centerbrook Cemetery.