Dr. Rema Mavis Johnson, PhD, 85, of Pasadena, CA passed away peacefully March 31.Born in the small Jamaican town of Port Maria Bay, her life took her across the globe from Toronto, to London, and then the US.She was a 37-year resident of Pasadena.She worked as a mental health professional in the Los Angeles area for many years and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve.Rema is survived by her sons Jonathan and Michael, and two grandchildren: Jaden and Joelle. A memorial service is planned for a later date.
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Dave Ross
Jun 19, 2022
Just learned that Dr. Rema passed this morning. During the years of 2009 -2011 I had the opportunity to sit with her every week as she had just released her first version of her award winning book, AFRAID NO MORE. The book is an autobiography of her amazing life. I read her book in two days as it chronicled her life when she was a humbled, despised girl who was abused. The book ended with her being a very successful woman who saw the world and became a decorated officer in the military.
When she attempted to write the second revision of her work she hired me as a ghost writer of sorts. For one year to two years we set every week and I would record her retelling me again about her entire life with all the warts and glory. I still have the recordings. It was cathartic for her as she relived her abuse, pain and happy times, and we would laugh and cry as she shared things with me I’m sure she never told another soul.
We would meet at our spot, Soup Plantation, once a week and talk. There, she would reenact her past over salad and clam chowder, with thousand miles stares remembering her life. She would asked me why she didn’t feel loved as a child. I had no answers for the adversity and rejection she felt in her life. That rejection she would feel over and over again throughout life she surmised.
What I never shared with her was that I too had been emotionally, physically and psychologically abused my step father. I was too embarrassed to share with her that those markings of abuse are indelible and you carry them around for the rest of your life. That feeling of unworthiness you hide around friends and loved ones all because when you were a vulnerable child that very significant loved one betrayed.
That was the kindred spirit Dr. Rema and I shared. It was a connection that will be there for the rest of my life. As her situation deteriorated we oddly bumped into one another every now and then, in the community we shared, until the last time I saw her early this year where she didn’t recognize me, so I thought. But as I walked by her, and her caretaker, she stopped and buried her head into my chest and squeezed me goodbye. She was telling me without speaking, she was AFRAID NO MORE. Her dream was to make her book available for everyone to read... I googled it recently and see her dream came true.
Goodbye Doc...see you soon...
Guestbook
Just learned that Dr. Rema passed this morning. During the years of 2009 -2011 I had the opportunity to sit with her every week as she had just released her first version of her award winning book, AFRAID NO MORE. The book is an autobiography of her amazing life. I read her book in two days as it chronicled her life when she was a humbled, despised girl who was abused. The book ended with her being a very successful woman who saw the world and became a decorated officer in the military. When she attempted to write the second revision of her work she hired me as a ghost writer of sorts. For one year to two years we set every week and I would record her retelling me again about her entire life with all the warts and glory. I still have the recordings. It was cathartic for her as she relived her abuse, pain and happy times, and we would laugh and cry as she shared things with me I’m sure she never told another soul. We would meet at our spot, Soup Plantation, once a week and talk. There, she would reenact her past over salad and clam chowder, with thousand miles stares remembering her life. She would asked me why she didn’t feel loved as a child. I had no answers for the adversity and rejection she felt in her life. That rejection she would feel over and over again throughout life she surmised. What I never shared with her was that I too had been emotionally, physically and psychologically abused my step father. I was too embarrassed to share with her that those markings of abuse are indelible and you carry them around for the rest of your life. That feeling of unworthiness you hide around friends and loved ones all because when you were a vulnerable child that very significant loved one betrayed. That was the kindred spirit Dr. Rema and I shared. It was a connection that will be there for the rest of my life. As her situation deteriorated we oddly bumped into one another every now and then, in the community we shared, until the last time I saw her early this year where she didn’t recognize me, so I thought. But as I walked by her, and her caretaker, she stopped and buried her head into my chest and squeezed me goodbye. She was telling me without speaking, she was AFRAID NO MORE. Her dream was to make her book available for everyone to read... I googled it recently and see her dream came true. Goodbye Doc...see you soon...