Helene Johnson, former North Babylon school board president, dies at 86

Helene Johnson spent her life ensuring that children had a voice.

Whether through her time as a school board member in North Babylon or later as a representative of children in family court proceedings in Florida, Johnson strove to give youth a say in their fate.

"She knew there were children who were not represented and she wanted to make sure that she was their voice," her son Todd Johnson said of her North Babylon years. Later, he said, "She was the person who was the advocate for the children’s position."

Helene Johnson died of complications from heart surgery on Feb. 24. She was 86.

Johnson was born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents and later taken in by a Black couple and raised in Jamaica, Queens. She attended Jamaica High School, but with just one class shy of being able to graduate, she left to join the workforce. In the ensuing years, Johnson worked at an ice cream parlor, a department store and then as a supervisor in a call center for Bell Telephone.

After a marriage that ended in divorce, Johnson met policeman Francis (Frank) Johnson. The NYPD officer was walking his beat when he went out of his way to assist Helene over a snowdrift during a storm, said son Todd, of Central Islip. The couple later reunited at a party, and in 1961, they married. Johnson adopted Helene’s son from her first marriage and the couple had three more children and adopted another.

The family moved to North Babylon in 1963 and Johnson became a stay-at-home mom but started to take an active role in the Belmont Lake Civic Association. She loved to sing and participated in local community theater productions and served as president of the Long Island chapter of the Women’s International Bowling Congress.

Johnson eventually went back to work, taking on jobs as a bus driver for the Wyandanch school district and as a supervisor in the reconciliations department of the Bank of North America. She decided to go back to school and in 1974 received her diploma from Brentwood High School.

"She said, ‘I think I want to graduate high school before my children,’" Todd said, adding that her oldest son graduated in 1975.

Johnson had been active in the Parliament Place PTA, which led to her running for the North Babylon school board. She was defeated but later appointed to fill a seat in 1975, becoming the first woman of color to serve on the board.

"She said, ‘I’m sure there’s more dusting I could do at home, but I’m more interested in making sure there’s no dust on the minds of the children of North Babylon and so that’s where I’m focusing all my energies,’" said Todd, a former Suffolk deputy county executive under Robert Gaffney.

Johnson fought to ensure there were proper programs for both the gifted and those with learning disabilities, knowing herself the struggles with having children that fell into both categories, her son said.

"That sort of became the fire in her belly, to make sure those programs were available," he said. "She knew firsthand and she knew what was missing."

In 1987, Johnson, who served as board president for five years, was the lone board vote against the closing of a junior high school in a predominantly Black area of the district. She resigned later that year in protest of the closing.

In a 1988 Newsday article on the closing, Johnson was quoted as saying, "It's important for the children to come over here and go to this school. ... It's important for the white children to realize that a Black community does exist, and that it's a nice community, just as nice as theirs."

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer was a student in the North Babylon school district while Johnson was on the board. During an online Black History celebration last month, Schaffer took a moment to recognize Johnson as "one of the trailblazing moms of the Town of Babylon."

Johnson was a role model for students, Schaffer wrote in an email, and played "a big part of my life at North Babylon and I'm so grateful for her leadership and education through the 1970s and 80s."

In 1993, Johnson and her husband retired to Spring Hill, Florida, and Johnson’s volunteer efforts continued. She became a guardian ad litem, representing children in family court cases, and then an educational surrogate, helping develop assessments for children in special education. Her work continued until she was in her 70s.

Johnson loved to cook for family gatherings and read crime novels and for a time was a CB radio enthusiast, her son said. She also served as an inspiration to her children.

"She would challenge you to be your best self," her son said. "She taught me that you have to stick with it even when things seem to be working against you."

In addition to her son Todd, Johnson is survived by her children Francis R. "Trey" Johnson Jr., of Hudson, Florida; Tonimarie Johnson and Terrance Johnson, both of Spring Hill, Florida; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She is predeceased by her husband Frank Johnson and her son Trevor Johnson.

A memorial Mass is scheduled at St. John of God Church in Central Islip on March 28 at 11:30 a.m., and at St. Mary’s Our Lady of Sorrows R.C. Church in Masaryktown, Florida, on July 18 at 9:30 a.m.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.