East Huntingdon beautician loved faith, friends, family

Dorothy Johnson was always able to brighten someone’s day, whether it was with a bouquet, a great meal or a new hairdo.

“Her cup was not just half full; her cup was overflowing,” said her daughter, Donna Britt.

Mrs. Johnson ran Dorothy’s Beauty Shop out of her East Huntingdon home for 50 years. It was more than a salon, Britt said. It was a place of encouragement, friendship and faith.

“She loved the Lord, so she wasn’t just about doing someone’s hair,” Britt said. “It was a personal thing. She became friends with her customers. She had customers who were with her forever.”

Sometimes Mrs. Johnson would run the shop while watching her grandkids. The little ones would imitate customers who called Dorothy by her name, but since they were unable to pronounce it, they called her “Dede” instead. The name stuck, and she was forever “Dede” to her grandkids.

Dorothy J. Felgar Johnson of Scottdale died Sunday, June 23, 2019. She was 87.

She was born Oct. 4, 1931, in Scottdale to the late Samuel and Ruth Ann Gallager Felgar.

“She was just an amazing lady, always ready and willing to do something for someone else,” said her pastor, Tom Shirer of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church. “If it wasn’t a good time, she’d make it one.”

Mrs. Johnson was always around to help out at church events. Even when she was fighting cancer, she picked up others to give them a ride to church.

She volunteered at the food bank.

“She was the one that kind of held our family together,” said her niece, Linda Blackburn. “For all our family functions, she would have the whole family together at her house.”

Mrs. Johnson loved cooking a big family meal.

When she was growing up, her family couldn’t afford a big Christmas celebration, so she always went all out for the holiday.

“You’d come home from school and music was playing, and something was in the oven, and candles were lit,” Britt said.

In her free time, she enjoyed gardening, especially perennial flowers, which she would give away to friends and family.

“She was the flower lady. She was the flower queen,” Britt said.

She made sure her friends knew how much she cared about them.

“She was just the most bubbly, loving, precious person, to everybody, not just to her family,” Britt said.

She made sure everyone felt loved.

“If she knew someone, her greeting was always a hug,” Blackburn said.

Mrs. Johnson was preceded in death by her husband, Stanley M. Johnson.

She is survived by her children, Donna Britt and husband Mark of Scottdale and Don Johnson of Scottdale; daughter-in-law Paula Sansone Johnson of Scottdale; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received from 1 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 9:30 a.m. to noon Thursday at Frank Kapr Funeral Home, 417 Pittsburgh St., Scottdale. A funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, South Huntingdon.