Gwendolyn Johnson

The second of three daughters born to James and Eunice Prescott, Gwendolyn (Gwen) began her life journey in Chicago, IL on May 23, 1931. Her early years included growing up in the now historic Rosenwald building on Chicago’s Southside, and participation with her sisters, Lavinia and Jane, in what is believed to be Chicago’s first ballet school to train African American dancers.

Gwen attended Gillespie Grammar School in Chicago, graduated from Fenger High School, and later took classes at Chicago Teacher’s College (now Chicago State University) and Governors State University. Shortly after graduating high school, Gwen married Louis B. Butler, Sr., with whom she had five children, Louis Jr., Anthony, Eric, Judith, and Pamela. Louis Sr. (affectionately known as Bum) and Gwen were active members in a large social network that included couples’ clubs, bridge clubs, and neighborhood groups that regularly brought all of their families together. Always very close with her sisters and these other families as well, she was a beloved “Aunt Gwen” to dozens of families throughout Chicago. Gwen started her career as a nursery school teacher at the YMJC Community Center in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, where her sister Jane was the Director. Gwen and Bum were married until his untimely death in 1983.

Gwen later married her second husband, Dr. Kenneth Roy Johnson, a longtime friend from her time growing up in Chicago’s Woodlawn community. During her second marriage, Gwen’s professional career eventually led her to heading a CEDA-funded program in underserved and underprivileged communities in Chicago’s south suburbs. In this role she continued to teach children, but also sought out resources for her students and their families, taught parenting classes, and so much more. After retirement, Gwen and Roy enjoyed traveling and spending time with grandkids until his death in 2011.

Gwen spent her final years sharing her love and her wisdom with her seemingly endless number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and staying in touch with all her old neighborhood friends and their families via frequent phone calls and the occasional get-together. She was called to her eternal rest on November 8, 2026 at the age of 95. Gwendolyn P. Johnson is preceded in death by her father James Prescott and her mother Eunice Prescott, her sisters Lavinia Ferguson and Jane Brown, her husbands Louis B. Butler, Sr. and Kenneth Roy Johnson, and her children Judith Howard, Anthony Butler, and Eric Butler. She is survived by her son Louis B. Butler, Jr. (Irene) and her daughter Pamela B. Wells (Detmer), 13 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews (blood and otherwise) who will deeply miss their Mama/Granny/Aunt Gwen.

Visitation Friday, November 20, 2026 at the Tews-Ryan Funeral Home, 18230 Dixie Highway, Homewood, IL. 60430 from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service beginning at 12:00 p.m. Interment will be held immediately following at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. For further information, please contact tews-ryanfh.com or call 708-798-5300.