Longtime Armstrong, MO, resident Mary Cecile Johnson, 87, passed away at the Villages at Jackson Creek in Independence, MO, on April 16, 2026.

Mary Cecile Johnson was born at Keller Hospital in Fayette, MO, on December 1, 1938. She was a daughter to the late Cecil and Nettie Maud (Cherrington) Duren. Mary Cecile graduated from Armstrong High School with the class of 1956. Following graduation, Mary attended business college in Kansas City.  Mary Cecile spent her entire career working as a bookkeeper/accountant for numerous businesses, companies, and institutions. She worked for the Howard County Public Administrator, Spic & Span Cleaners and Central Methodist University in Fayette, State Farm Insurance of Columbia, and Pickwick Hotel in Kansas City.

Mary Cecile enjoyed cross-stitching, baking, word search puzzles, Solitaire and road-tripping. She was very active with the Fayette Senior Center and was a former member of the Armstrong UMC.

Survivors include her daughter, Mary Aline Johnson, of Independence, MO, and extended family Belinda Johnson & Joe Bonello of Independence, MO, and Howard & Jennifer Johnson and sons, Whitney, William, and Wilson, of Springfield, MO. She was preceded in death by her parents and stepfather, Beach B. Shiflett of Armstrong.   

A memorial service honoring the life of Mary Cecile Johnson will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Friemonth-Freese Funeral Home in Fayette, with Revs. Karen Alden & Harold Young officiating. Visitation will be held an hour before the service at the funeral home, starting at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Fayette Senior Center, ℅ Friemonth-Freese Funeral Service of Fayette.