Deljean (Delvin) Johnson

Ancestors

Daughter of Jerome Delvin and Dorothy (Hindman) Delvin

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Leigh Anne Dear [send private message]

Biography

Note to the reader
As her WikiTree biographer, and a first hand witness to significantly most of the events described herein, the remaining having been told to me by other close family members, it was my decision to not white-wash the decades of difficulties and trauma Deljean experienced. There is nothing cringe-worthy about her life choices; it was as if from birth her fate was completely out of her control. Morally and ethically she was an extremely decent human being with a liberal minded heart. Unfortunately her mental and physical health problems were inherited and she existed during a time of medical misunderstandings particularly when it came to women's health. She also lived in a world-wide culture of intollerance of women who couldn't fit neatly into predetermined boxes representing very limited life choices but which required of them the most difficult of life's path: the successful bearing and rearing of children while molding a happy home life for the working father.

As with her maternal aunt Bertha Edna Hindman, Deljean was inhibited as a child with extreme shyness under the tutalage of a domineering mother. At age twenty-one, while pregnant with her first child, genetic weaknesses were triggered and expressed themselves through a destructive over-active immune system. Despite some basic 20th century advancements, medical science existed in the dark ages about neurology, the female hormonal system and about immune system deficiencies in general. As to her future: Marriage was the only goal she was taught to aim towards it being the most proper pursuit possible for a middle-class Baptist family. What most women weren't told is that a successful marriage rarely comes naturally: It's the product of skill sets needing to be learned, thought through and practiced. Instead, she was repeatedly taught by her mother that endurance is part of a woman's worldly inheritance and burden. As a deeply shy young woman who was molded into not questioning her elders let alone seek enlightment outside their mandated frame of reference she counted on the fairy tail of marriage to make life better; a fairy tale accentuated through the rise of Hollywood and its dreamy two dimensional stories. Mesmerizing TV shows, another new form of mass media entertainment during her youth, broadcasted fantastical images about family life in the minds of its young audience. Once married Deljean discovered a life very different than those earlier dreams she used to endure her youth. A genetic time-bomb exploded during her first pregnancy; her over active immune system turned on her. Later, with three children and a husband who was never around because it wasn't expected of him, Deljean's life proceeded painfully and without joy. By the time I was in the 5th grade I took care of the house cleaning, washing the nightly dishes (no dish washer) and keeping the yard tidy. None of us knew how to help her personally and rather than not doing anything all the doctor's could do was throw opiates at her by the handful for the purpose of calming her mental and physical pain. Fortunately, alcohol was never in the house or played a part in her life. All the grandparents and great-grandparents were teetoler's.

Again, this brief overview conveys the decision to not white-wash her difficulties because in the final analysis I, her oldest child, always saw her 'troop on', she always tried to do her best, she tried to not give up. By my way of thinking this inherent part of her make-up is as courageous as a soldier on the battlefield. Also, she was a very accepting mother with a big heart. But still, she was sick her entire adult life and I used to dream about what life would have been like for her if she has not been so.

Birth and Youth
Deljean, a name made up for her by her father, was 5'1" tall with thick sandy blonde hair and large wide set glacier blue eyes: An attractive stylish woman who also liked the outdoors. Her parents were both educated, her mother having a Master's degree from Arizona State University, her brother a chemistry degree from University of Arizona and Deljean her four year degree at Arizona State graduating in 1957. She studied music and was a pianist in the school orchestra. After she married, Deljean played the complex pipe organ for her husband's Episscopal church services. She also had a beautiful singing voice. I used to look up in adoration as she sang hymns her voice usually being the best of those around us whereas I had to fake my singing because I couldn't carry a tune. Deljean was healthy and active as a child and young girl but she suffered from a debilitating shyness. Along with her artistic talents she took after her father in this regard and it infuriated her mother who was exactly the opposite and who viewed shyness as a character flaw. Deljean participated in school events but she hid in the shadows people-wise. Her personality matched her maternal aunt Bertha Edna Hindman, her mother's oldest sister.

After the birth of her older brother Deljean's mother hadn't wanted a second child but her father insisted. Deljean's mother never let her forget this whereas her brother was basked in praise for his accomplishments although he too veered towards the shy quietness of his father. Fortunately both siblings maintained a warm loving relationship between themselves her entire life but after collage he "escaped his mother by relocating to Richland, Washington by accepting employment at the Hanford Nuclear Plant". [As personally told to this biographer a number of times] Deljean's shyness prevented her from dating in High School and she eventually married the first man she thought she loved. Her brother's hiking friend. Zeno later told me she didn't want to be left behind in a household empty of her brother. She begged Zeno to take her away. As explained earlier, for Deljean, marriage was a woman's highest aspiration and the biblical formula for a woman's successful life; the Delvin's being descended from hundreds of years of staunch Baptists. She knew her father adored her but he was a man of few words and always remained in the background; the house being strickly her mother's rightful kingdom. She was tired of being dominated by her mother; marriage would make everything better.

Marriage and Children
Deljean married the only man she ever dated, Zeno Martel Johnson 3rd. Zeno was a long time hiking 'buddy' of her brother Wayne. He was four years older and already attending Arizona State University when she was still at North High School. At the age of twenty, after finishing her work at A.S.U. Deljean and Zeno married on the 21st of December 1951 at the First Baptist Church in downtown Phoenix on Central Ave. The ceremony was a large double wedding with her brother Wayne Lewis Delvin and his fiancee Dorothy Marie Quiring.

After the wedding Deljean and Zeno began an annual six year commute between Phoenix, Arizona and Cambridge, Massachusetts where Zeno attended the Harvard Divinity School to complete a Master's degree in Theology and then his Divinity Doctorate. During the summer months they returned to Phoenix where Zeno taught summer-school in several small incorporated towns bordering the Phoenix municipality. Locating part-time teaching jobs was dificult for several reasons: The Phoenix economy was mostly agricultural based and the population very 'spread out'. Also, he had to compete with the many soldiers who returned from WWII and who had taken advantage of the United States G.I. bill to fund an education then becoming teachers. They were usually the first choice for acceptance in part-time teaching jobs. Zeno also told me a number of times his unusual height made people uncomfortable.

Deljean and Zeno had three children:

1. Leigh Anne Johnson, b. 12 Dec 1953, Phoenix, AZ.
2. Anne Millett Johnson, b. 21 Nov 1955, Phoenix, AZ
3. Jay Barnes Andrew Johnson, b. Jun 1959, Phoenix, AZ

Between 1955 and 1959, the birth of their second and third child, Zeno filed for a divorce on the grounds that Deljean wasn't capable of living within their financial means although admittedly Zeno's income at that time was hardly capable for a family of four. It was the modest number of luxuries she purchased that he objected too. It must have been extremely difficult for Deljean to live nine months a year amidst the wealthy students of the Massachusetts Ivy League system subsisting on a student's budget. It's uncertain if Zeno recognized these outside pressures, he was imerresed in a exciting world of pure academic intellect, an environment that set his mind on fire. She was in the opposite situation as her shyness always prevented her from learning entertaining conversation skills, but; she presented herself well and consequently could fake comfortableness amidst a crowd if the need presented itself. The fashionably well dressed woman about campus were enviable and Deljean, a lover of style and good taste sucumbed to their persuasions. Zeno didn't understand. So immersed in his studies he was lso oblivious to his young family's needs which made her more lonely and in need of validation; something to make her feel good. So, he divorced her during one summer. They remarried due to pressure from all four of their parents and probably from Deljean too. At this point Zeno wasn't far away from graduation. His last year of school in 1956-1957 he returned to Cambridge alone and Deljean and her two daughters lived with the Delvin's in a small spare bedroom. I remember that year very well because I slept on an old WWII army cot which was terribly uncomfortable; the wooden sides causing my shoulders to bruise when I tossed and turned in the night.

Many Changing Residencies, Ill Health & Other Difficulties
Deljean was a housewife until about 1967 at which time she took an elementary school job in the South Mountain area of Phoenix. Due to irreconcilable differences her second and final divorce from Zeno took place in 1971. He moved out and she remained at 1528 East Granada St. home she purchased after returning from Sioux Falls. Although I begged my father to take me with him we three children were told to remain with her. There was no alimony only meager minimum required child support. I'd been working 20 hours weekly since the age of thirteen in order to purchase clothes to fit my much taller than average height but my sister was already 6' and also having difficulty. They just didn't make clothes for girls of our size: We weren't overweight but actually quit slim, it was the length of our arms and legs that proved troublesome. At home we lived on cheap TV dinners and cereal to get buy. Mothers energy level had been seriously disminished many years prior to this point so we kids were used to taking care of ourselves. I still did the dishes by hand and beat the indoor rugs on the clothesline in the back yard because we didn't own a vacuum cleaner. We did have a clothes washer and dryer which was convenient.

Due to the severe illness triggered by all three of her pregnancies, which worsened as she aged, Deljean wasn't able to live as long as the rest of us but daily she trooped on with her teaching job. Her 4th grade kids all loved her. Us too. At the end of the day she'd collapse into bed and we'd deliberately leave her alone. She like to read mysteries and we liked knowing her solitude was somehow soothing.

In 1964 Deljean couldn't take the cold winters any more and we returned to Phoenix from Sioux Falls. She bought a small house situated between her parents and her Johnson in-laws, her children's grandparents residency's which were just 2 miles apart. This was her final residence for the next 17 years that she lived in an ever diminishing life. When not teaching school Deljean retreated to her bedroom to lay down because the flue-like symptoms never abated. Stress would always make her feel worse. Several times she experienced mental breakdowns, the doctors said Schizophrenia but once she left the hospital they never put her on medication. We lost track of the number of hospitals she stayed at. These incidents always left me emotionaly drained and in grief for her.

The social reality of unrecognized illness: If a doctor couldn't provide a diagnosis you obviously weren't sick: The problem was all in your head. Unfortunately, that social attitude infected her parents who refused to believe their daughter was physically very sick. Even after 3 major surgeries to remove damaged internal organs her parents believed each procedure would then yield a healthy result; they did not, they only took away an immediate problem. The Delvins were healthy throughout their lives and couldn't fatham the illnness plaguing their daughter. Bed ause she rec8eved no financial help from her parents, although they were very capable of giving it, Deljean had to teach school full time. She gad no strength left over to live a life which included being a mother or having friends.

Deljean never remarried after her divorce to Zeno. She maintained her Episcopal faith up until the last ten years of life when-ever possible worshiping at St. Barnabas Church in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Deljean, and she would remonstrate about this if I didn't mention it here, was a strong advocate of birth control for young women so that theyvaren't trapped being mother's at too young an age. She also believed strongly in civil rights despite her parents harsh Baptist views. Living in ultra-conservative Phoenix, the home of the John Birch Society, was also a drain on her.

Death
After experiencing six months of severe decline, through which she continued to teach her beloved 4th graders, Deljean lost most of her eye sight and became so physically weak she couldn't take car of herself anymore. Dorothy Delvin, her mother, who always enjoyed perfect physical health, took her daughter home where Deljean was raised and she was given her father's bedroom as he passed in 1977. Having his room had to be a comfort. As to her deteriorating health the doctor continued to be mystified although no one thought of consulting a rheumatologist who are immune system specialists. In any case it's unlikely they could have helped. The doctor, who I never met, prescribed a large quantity of Phenobarbital perhaps because Deljean was having trouble sleeping. After she passed I visited her room at grandmother's and discovered the bottle noting that it was half empty which equated to thirty missing tablets. That's when I acknowledged to myself this was the last time I was going to see her. Her last few days of life were spent in a coma while in intensive care. Her cause of death was noted as being kidney failure from Bright's disease. A safe diagnosis from doctor's who appeared to not know what was happening to her for all those years. She passed away 3 June 1981 the day after her 50th birthday. When I finally understood he event that put her into a coma I thought about Deljean's aunt Bertha Edna Hindman and the tragedy of her short life which also ended by her own hand and the irony that they both shared a middle name.

If she'd never gotten sick I believe Deljean could have learned to outgrow her shyness enough to have lived a larger life perhaps exploring other cultures and lands. If not then I know she still could have done so through big screen TV's, something she would have loved.

Post Script
This is a true story taking place on Sunday, 10 April 2011, late one night. It was dark in the house and I was passing through the downstairs hall when I had the urge to stop and look at the black & white portrait of mother taken when she was 25 years. She wears an elegant tailored suit accented by 3 strands of fine cultured pearls underneath the jacket. She is a good looking woman without artiface, you can see that in her face. I look up at her and realize she's glowing, there's light radiating all around her face and the fact of this impossability hits me as I also suddenly understand she's happy, she's brilliantly happy. Then, in the blink of an eye I'm back 'in' myself aware of my surroundings and the portrait looks normal. I promptly forget the incident. I don't think of it at all. Two days later my brother calls me to say that our beloved Uncle Wayne died Sunday evening and at about the same time as my hallway incident. While incredibly sad over uncle Wayne's passing I couldn't help but be overjoyed for my mother because she loved her brother very much. They were a lot alike and like their father.

Sources

• Johnson-Delvin Family Records Collection: Memoirs of Leigh Anne Johnson Dear (daughter), Wayne Lewis Delvin (brother) and Zeno M. Johnson, 3rd (former husband).
• "Arizona Birth Records, 1880-1935 for: Deljean Edna Delvin. birth 2 Sep 1931 in Maricopa, Arizona, USA. Father: Jerome Lewis Delvin. Mother: Dorothy Hindman. Household members: Deljean Edna Delvin, Dorothy Hindman, Jerome Delvin. Home address: 819 E. Windsor Ave., Phoenix, Arizona." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "Arizona County Marriage Records, 1865-1972 for: Deljean Delvin, female, Marriage date: 23 Dec 1951 in 1st Baptist Church, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, USA." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "US City Directories, 1821-1989 for: Deljean Delvin, Residence year: 1951. Street address: 819 E Windsor Ave., Phoenix, Arizona, Occupation: Student. Publication title: Phoenix, Arizona, City Directory for 1951."
• "US School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 for: Deljean Delvin, age 16, birth year abt 1932. School: North Phoenix H.S. Location: Phoenix, Arizona, USA." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "US Find A Grave Index, 1600's-Current for: Deljean Edna Johnson. Maiden name: Delvin. Birth date: 1931. Death date: 1981. Cemetery: Grand View Memorial park and Crematory. Burial/Cremation Place: (Cremation) Grand View memorial Park and Crematory in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. Deljean's ashes are interred next to her parents and brother, her Delvin and Hindman grandparents and various aunts and uncles. " Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com.
• "US Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 for: Deljean Johnson, SSN: 527-36-1563. Born: 2 Sep 1931. Died Jun 1981. State Year SSN Issued: Arizona - before 1951." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "US Public Records Index, Vol.2 for: Deljean Johnson born 2 Sep 1931. Address: 1528 E. Granada Rd., Phoenix, Arizona, 85006-2235." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "Source Citation for [www.Newspapers.com] The Arizona Republic: 21 Apr 1948, pg.,14. Detail: 'Bridal Party for close friend of Deljean's'. Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].
• "Source Citation for [www.Newspapers.com] The Arizona Republic: 21 Dec 1951, pg.,26. Detail: 'Dec. 1951 1st Baptist Church Delvin Brother & Sister Marry in Double Wedding'." Online record source access thru: [www.Ancestry.com].

To be completed. Thank you for your patience.