On a September visit to Springwood, the birthplace and lifelong home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, I was reminded of Winston Churchill who once stayed there, in the pink room upstairs. It was the Prime Minister who once said, "The most beautiful voice in the world is that of an educated Southern woman." This would lead one to believe he had made the acquaintance of Mt. Hermon native Leah Ott Johnson (1930-2022). Coincidentally, she and her beloved husband Delos made annual visits to Chautauqua, New York, not far from Hyde Park, for the music.
Yet, what I remember most was not Ms. Leah's voice but her knock - "rap, rap, rap" - at the side door of my childhood home, the entry to our breakfast room. Had it been unsecured, Leah would have let herself right in, just as she did at her next-door neighbors' home, that of Marilyn and Dick Richardson - theirs was a fifty-five-year friendship. There, I routinely watched her slip right in through their back door into their breakfast room. It's hard to explain, but Leah's appearance, while unannounced, was neither unexpected nor unwelcome.
When I heard the "rap, rap, rap," it startled me as a child. My mother would say, "That's Leah." She just knew. The two fit together, hand in glove. Morning coffee and afternoon tea constituted ladies' time while weekend brunch and evenings were for the couples. Leah and Delos joined my parents Margie Nell and Cecil Ellzey for excursions across South Louisiana, ranging from Commander's in New Orleans to Café Vermilionville in Lafayette. It was there, when my husband Rodney and I first moved to Acadiana in 1989, that the Johnsons appeared one weekend with my parents.
But I was well aware of the depth of the foursome's friendship long before that. It was Mr. Delos, a longtime lawyer, Judge, and graduate of Tulane Law School, who recommended me for admission in 1986. And it was his close friend Hoffman Fuller, tax scholar and beloved professor, who taught me contracts and took me under his wing - in no small part because Mr. Delos and Ms. Leah had reached out to him, on my behalf. How well I remember her singing the praises of "Hoff" as she called him. Ms. Leah thought the world of him, and others. And when she didn't, we knew. Everyone had their place. I liked that about her.
Ms. Leah and Mr. Delos's lovely home on South Main was filled with magnificent treasures from their extensive travel abroad - they were world travelers - and also the most complete book collection anywhere around. Over the last decade, since I lost my mother, I would stop by on occasion to visit. Relaxing in the Johnsons' cozy den brought back a tide of memories, of being there with Momma. I would listen while Ms. Leah told me what she thought. Unsolicited advice - take it or leave it. I appreciated it, and her.
Leah was the consummate lady, a cut above - think, Chanel and St. John suits. After my mother invested in several St. John pieces back in the 1980's and 1990's, I knew Ms. Leah was, unwittingly, behind it. She was renowned for her stylish suits. Downton Abbey didn't have anything on her. Digressing, Ms. Leah always brought a darling doodad, from Harrod's, for my daughter Betsy when she and Mr. Delos returned from London.
I'm not sure when the friendship began. I do know that my mother and Delos were childhood friends and graduates of the Franklinton High School class of 1942. I assume this is how Momma met Leah. Born in 1930 to John Monroe and Grace Eleanor Ott, Leah - the sister of Jackie Ott Dobie, Dr. Peggy Ott, and Mary Virginia Ott - was raised in Mt. Hermon. Their father owned and operated, together with his brother George Herbert "Sam" Ott, Ott Brothers, the well-known mercantile, and also a cotton gin at Mt. Hermon. And their grandfather Walter Thomas "W. T." Ott was, in 1911, the first Washington Parish Fair President.
Ms. Leah informed me that in the early days of phone service Ott Brothers had the only phone in the Mt. Hermon area. She relayed telephone messages to folks in the community - a role that was particularly poignant during war time. While she loved history, Leah earned her degree in Home Economics at Southwest Louisiana University (now ULL) and in 1950 married Delos Johnson, Jr., the son of Delos Johnson, Sr., and wife Pearl Griffith Johnson. Their union was long-lasting, until he passed away in the spring of 2001.
And now, having succumbed in the summer, Ms. Leah has joined him. She left behind the children she so loved: John Keller Johnson; Dr. Jeffrey Adrian Johnson and wife Rebekah; and Caroline Griffith Jackson and husband Don. And the grandchildren she adored and who called her "Hi-mama": Caroline Grace Fitzgerald, Emmie Adele Chaney, Margaret Jess Patti, Jonas Stark Johnson, and Hannah Sophia Johnson - in addition to a bevy of great-grandchildren. The way she talked, it is as if I know them all.
A dedicated charter member of Hillcrest Baptist Church, Leah's faith governed every aspect of her life. And she was an excellent bridge player - I had the pleasure of playing with her in recent years. She had countless friends in Franklinton. It was Oliver Wendall Holmes who said, "There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise."
Ms. Leah read my column early on Tuesday - son John Keller would get the newspaper from the newsstand. And she would give me a ring when she was moved by something I penned. I think her favorite was my column that featured Captain Jack Stanley Jones, U.S. Army Air Corps, hometown hero. That piece in May of 2015 touched her deeply.
Leah Ott Johnson will be dearly missed by her friends and family. She confided, referring to my column, "Cecily, you found your thing." I pine for her already.
Left to right are sisters Dr. Peggy Ott,
Leah Ott Johnson, and Jackie Ott Dobie.
