Together in life – and death

If you ever encountered Jessie Washington, there was a good chance that not far behind was her older sister, Mary Johnson.

For more than 100 years, they made their way together a lot – from their childhood in Mississippi to being among 12 siblings to move here, first to Campbell, then to Youngstown.

It continued at massive family gatherings at Jessie’s Youngstown house where they would lead family events such as cards, Scrabble, croquet and more.

They’d travel to flea markets or garage sales. They’d hang out at McGuffey Centre.

When their spouses died, they moved in together.

As life rolled on for more than a century for both ladies, they rolled with it, and often as outlined above: together.

And so it would be in death, too.

On Nov. 1, Mary passed away at 104 years old.

Three days later, on Nov. 4, Jessie died at age 102.

Two sisters who spent more than a century together also would die together.

This past Wednesday at Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, two caskets lay side by side as relatives gathered to say goodbye to the matriarchs of their family.

“They were not just special,” said nephew Virgil Simms.

“They were monumental. How we all acted as a family to our whole tree comes from how they treated us.”

Caretaking for the beloved aunts was a family affair headed by niece Mattie Pearl Bell. Mary had no kids of her own. Jessie has a son, Larry.

“All of us nieces and nephews were their kids,” said Mattie, a retired teacher.

“Aunt Jessie’s house on Nelson Avenue had a large backyard, and that was the gathering place for all of my life.”

Their role of being the family glue was always an honor.

“They were sweet people and the backbone of the family. There was never a time that they did not want to do for us. They both enjoyed every aspect of family,” said Mattie.

One hundred years of life is stunning. Then start to rattle off what a person of such age has seen and experienced, and it exceeds stunning.

Mary was born in July of 1912.

Foreshadowing how their lives would be, July also would be the month Jessie was born – two years later.

Kosciusko, Miss., would be the birthplace for the 12 children of Arnold and Catherine Howell. (Oprah Winfrey is from there too.)

Seeking a better life than offered in the Jim Crow South, the six sons moved to Campbell to work in the steel mills. The six daughters would follow in 1927, and a new Valley family tree would take root here. It’s well more than 100 people branching off of Arnold and Catharine.

The Vindicator featured the sisters’ remarkable lives in 2015. In that story for us, Sean Barron wrote the following that gave a great sense of the ladies and the family:

During World War II, the sisters were welders. One worked at General Motors Corp. and the other at the Ravenna Arsenal. Each served as a Rosie the Riveter, a cultural icon representing women who worked in factories and shipyards during the war and often is symbolic of feminism and women’s economic power.

After the war, Mary worked for the Youngstown Sheet & Tube and Truscon Steel companies.

Over the years, the family grew, and when Johnson and Washington turned 100, more than 200 relatives and friends attended their birthday galas at the McGuffey Centre.

Washington and Johnson were top-notch caregivers who were there for many family members, recalled niece Marthella Allen.

Some of Allen’s fondest memories were from the nearly two years she lived with 13 people in her grandmother’s five-room house, and Johnson often took her to downtown Youngstown and elsewhere, she said, adding that Sundays were special at the home.

“Those were the happiest years of my life. [Johnson] made me feel so special,” Allen said.

“On Sunday, that table would be loaded and anyone could come in for a good meal.”

When their lives ended two weeks ago, it was together.

The sisters were residents of Austinwoods senior care center. It was supposed to be a short-term stay and back to their Nelson Avenue house, the family had hoped.

They knew the sisters were ailing. Jessie was expected to pass first.

But it was Mary.

On Wednesday, when family and friends gathered for the funeral, the procession first went to Greenhaven Cemetery to bury Jessie with her husband.

It was then on to Belmont Cemetery for Mary to join her husband.

In their burials, they are apart.

But you can believe they’ll be joined soon. If not already.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.