Loretto Sister Jean Johnson, formerly Sister Regina Rose Burke, died Aug. 15 at the Loretto Motherhouse infirmary in Nerinx, Ky. She was 94 and in her 46th year of religious life.
Sister Johnson, a native of Maytown, Ill., served as a nurse and teacher. She taught in Kentucky, Colorado, Missouri and Virginia. In the Archdiocese of Louisville, she taught at Christ the King and St. Benedict schools.
As a nurse, Sister Johnson served as administrator of the Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary where she helped to care for the sisters.
She was dispensed from her final vows in 1970 and she became director of nursing for the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing. She married Clarence Johnson of New Haven, Ky., a widower with ten children, in 1973. Johnson died in 1988, and Sister Johnson rejoined the Sisters of Loretto in 2005, making her final vows in 2009.
Sister Johnson is survived by her stepchildren Kevin Johnson of New Palestine, Ind., Phil Johnson, Jack Johnson and Karen Downs of Bardstown, Ky., grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews and members of her community.
She was buried Aug. 24 in the Loretto Motherhouse cemetery. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Sisters of Loretto Mission Office, Loretto Motherhouse, 515 Nerinx Road, Nerinx, Ky., 40049 or online at www.lorettocommunity.org.
