Arlene J. (Fouracre) Johnson

HOLDEN - Arlene Jane (Fouracre) Johnson-Drawbridge, 87, died peacefully on March 17. She was the daughter of the late Willis H. and Gertrude H. (Britt) Fouracre.
She leaves six children: Krystal Nola of Olney, MD, Karen Murray of Jamestown, RI, Kathy Sherburne of Burlington, Kimberly Johnson of Worcester, William Johnson of Altamont, NY, Erik Johnson of Nantucket, and two stepchildren, James Drawbridge Jr. of Oakham, and Neil Drawbridge of Vashon Island, WA. Her siblings Lena, Willis, Simeon and John predeceased her.

Arlene was raised in Northboro and was valedictorian of her high school class. She married and attended Clark University, graduating in 1952, one day before her first child was born. She excelled in sports, especially basketball. After her children were born she earned an MA in education from Worcester State College in 1970. For the next 30 years she taught fourth grade at the Rice School in Holden, where she spearheaded the summer professional development program for teachers, with a focus on whole language learning. She was elected to the Holden School Committee in the 1960s.

She was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Holden where she spent many years as a teacher and superintendent of the Sunday school. She loved nature and the outdoors and enjoyed tending to her home garden. She was a diligent homemaker. She knitted mittens, sewed clothes for her family and was known for her baked beans and home-baked bread every Saturday. She was an enthusiastic reader and spent more than 60 years as a pen pal of a woman in Great Britain, an assignment she began in grammar school.

Her first husband and father of her six children, Elmer Johnson Jr., died in 1976. She married James Drawbridge Sr. on August 24, 1979, drawing together two families that included nine children, 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. James Sr. died in 2000 and stepson Stephen Drawbridge died in 2002.

She had great love for her grandchildren Jamie and Benjamin Nola, Nikki and Toni LaCava and Dana and Justin Murray, Matthew, Andrew and Laura Sherburne, Brian and Brittany Jumonville, Emaline, Lindsey and Alexa Johnson, Sara and Cameron Johnson, Peter Drawbridge, Yaran, Teagan, Nathan and Tanner Drawbridge and Dara Neville, and her three great grandchildren, Desmond and Scarlett Nola, and Sienna Neville.

Arlene will be long remembered for her love of life, her appreciation of other people and her warm, witty personality. She will be much missed by her children, her grandchildren, her many nieces and nephews and her wide circle of friends and colleagues.

Relatives and friends are invited to a memorial service on Saturday, April 9, at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Holden, 1216 Main Street, Holden, where her family will greet guests at a luncheon following the service in the church hall. Memorial donations may be sent to Gale Free Library in Holden or the Salvation Army.

To share a memory, or offer an online condolence please visit our “Guest Book” here on our page.



She leaves six children: Krystal Nola of Olney, MD, Karen Murray of Jamestown, RI, Kathy Sherburne of Burlington, Kimberly Johnson of Worcester, William Johnson of Altamont, NY, Erik Johnson of Nantucket, and two stepchildren, James Drawbridge Jr. of Oakham, and Neil Drawbridge of Vashon Island, WA. Her siblings Lena, Willis, Simeon and John predeceased her.  Arlene was raised in Northboro and was valedictorian of her high school class. She married and attended Clark University, graduating in 1952, one day before her first child was born. She excelled in sports, especially basketball. After her children were born she earned an MA in education from Worcester State College in 1970. For the next 30 years she taught fourth grade at the Rice School in Holden, where she spearheaded the summer professional development program for teachers, with a focus on whole language learning. She was elected to the Holden School Committee in the 1960s. She was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Holden where she spent many years as a teacher and superintendent of the Sunday school. She loved nature and the outdoors and enjoyed tending to her home garden. She was a diligent homemaker. She knitted mittens, sewed clothes for her family and was known for her baked beans and home-baked bread every Saturday. She was an enthusiastic reader and spent more than 60 years as a pen pal of a woman in Great Britain, an assignment she began in grammar school. Her first husband and father of her six children, Elmer Johnson Jr., died in 1976. She married James Drawbridge Sr. on August 24, 1979, drawing together two families that included nine children, 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. James Sr. died in 2000 and stepson Stephen Drawbridge died in 2002. She had great love for her grandchildren Jamie and Benjamin Nola, Nikki and Toni LaCava and Dana and Justin Murray, Matthew, Andrew and Laura Sherburne, Brian and Brittany Jumonville, Emaline, Lindsey and Alexa Johnson, Sara and Cameron Johnson, Peter Drawbridge, Yaran, Teagan, Nathan and Tanner Drawbridge and Dara Neville, and her three great grandchildren, Desmond and Scarlett Nola, and Sienna Neville. Arlene will be long remembered for her love of life, her appreciation of other people and her warm, witty personality. She will be much missed by her children, her grandchildren, her many nieces and nephews and her wide circle of friends and colleagues. Relatives and friends are invited to a memorial service on Saturday, April 9, at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Holden, 1216 Main Street, Holden, where her family will greet guests at a luncheon following the service in the church hall. Memorial donations may be sent to Gale Free Library in Holden or the Salvation Army. To share a memory, or offer an online condolence please visit our “Guest Book” here on our page.