Doris Johnson was born on 6 November 1911 in Turlock, California, USA, to Gunnard Emanuel and Anna Marie (née Johnson) Wickstrom. She was the older of two daughters. Her sister’s name was Betty Ann. Gunnard was born in Sweden. She graduated from Turlock High School in 1929 and worked as a nurse.

Her maternal grandfather Erick Johnson reportedly died at the age of 103, and her mother Anna Marie died in February 1986, just six weeks shy of her 98th birthday. One of her maternal uncles, Ingvald Johnson, reportedly died in November 2001, six months after his 100th birthday.

Johnson married Martin Edward Wedin in 1936. The couple did not have any children.

Her husband Edward died of cancer in November 1982. She remarried in 1987 to Donald Ernest Johnson, who died of cancer in March 2001.

Johnson passed away at the Covenant Living of Turlock care home in Turlock, California, USA, on 18 May 2023, at the age of 111 years, 193 days.