Johnson was born in Winchester, New Hampshire, USA, on 26 May 1913, as the first of three daughters born to George E. Sanford and Effie M. Chalifaux. Her sisters, Evelyn Johnson and Muriel Depace, passed away at the ages of 95 and 75, respectively. Growing up during the Great Depression, her family faced financial hardship. She was raised in Winsted, Connecticut, where her father worked as a harness maker and her mother as a seamstress. She had a passion for gymnastics, swimming, and other sports at the YMCA, as well as riding horses and motorcycles. She also spent summers working at her family’s farms in Hudson and Walpole, New Hampshire.

Johnson graduated from Gilbert High School in 1931 and later met her future husband, Francis E. (Frank) Johnson, in a chance encounter at Osborne’s Speakeasy in Colebrook River. Their first official date was at the Warner Theater in Torrington, Connecticut, where they participated in a marathon dance event in 1935. They married in September 1938 and eventually built and moved into their home in Colebrook in 1955. The couple had two daughters, Sandra M. Wilson (died at 81) and Linda F. Bagnall (died at 69). She retired after a 20-year career at Winsted’s Dano Electric in the mid-1960s. Her husband died at the age of 99.

As a centenarian, she moved into a senior living facility in Canaan, Connecticut. On her 108th birthday, she went on a motorcycle ride with her granddaughter.

Johnson passed away in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA, on 10 February 2024, at the age of 110 years, 260 days. She was survived by 7 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great-grandchildren.