Mary P. Johnson passed away peacefully on April 7, 2026, at her home in Sugarhouse, surrounded by her three children. She was a loving wife, devoted mother, gifted musician, and a woman whose curiosity and generosity shaped every part of her life.
Mary grew up on her family’s commercial orchard in Illinois, where she developed a lifelong love of plants, both cultivated and wild. She earned a degree in botany from Cornell University in 1951 and later worked in James Bonner’s plant physiology laboratory at Caltech while her sweetheart — and future husband — Robert pursued his doctorate in the emerging field of digital electronics.
Although she loved natural science, Mary’s deepest passion was music. She started with flute in the 4th grade, then discovered the bassoon, and then recorders, and later the viola da gamba, which became her favorite of the many instruments she loved. She got serious about early-music during her years in Pasadena and carried that passion forward to Franklin, Michigan, and then Salt Lake City, Utah. Well respected in the early‑music community across the country, she performed, taught, and mentored with uncommon dedication. She was a frequent faculty member and participant at workshops such as the Mideast Workshop in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and she led and played in numerous ensembles everywhere she lived, teaching by doing and inspiring by example. She earned the certification of Instructor with the American Recorder Society in 1975 and held that role until her passing. She was an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Utah as well as the Music Director and Program Coordinator for the Utah chapter of the American Recorder Society and the Director of the University of Utah Early Music Ensemble when it was revived, partly on her insistence, in 1974.
Outside of her music she was an active member of P.E.O. She took on the role of Secretary at the P.E.O Chapter of Utah, at the age of 94, “because somebody had to do it.” When not making music or helping the P.E.O., she loved to travel. Aside from frequent trips returning to Detroit to “hang out” with her daughter Allegra, she also loved road tripping to Southern Utah and beyond, supporting the P.E.O. wherever possible by staying in their B&B homes. Her most recent travels included a long road-trip along Route 66 with her daughter Perrine and a bucket-list trip to tour the Wendover Airfield where so much of her girlhood memory of the World War II air history was made.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Robert R. Johnson, Professor Emeritus in Computer Science at the University of Utah; by her sister and brother‑in‑law, Ann and Henry Bauer of Kirkwood, Missouri; and by her parents, David and Fanny Perrine of Centralia, Illinois. She is survived by her three children — Perrine, Royce, and Allegra — as well as seven grandchildren and four great‑grandchildren.
A celebration of her life is planned for October of this year. Please check back for service details.
In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to All Saints Episcopal Church, American Recorder Society, Huntsman Cancer Institute, or P.E.O Chapter O of Utah.
