Connie Johnson

Growing up in a small midwestern town, Connie Johnson never dreamed that she’d one day be living on an island in the Pacific Northwest. After many years of teaching mentally handicapped youth in a private school, and then teaching middle school Language Arts, she was ready for a change. That launched a whole series of adventures that took her from Kansas to Washington, to Alaska, and back to Washington again. 

She met and married her husband, Nick, while working on a grant at the UW in Seattle. Less than a year later they moved to Anchorage, AK, where she did displays in a bookstore, had a booth in an antique mall, and managed a Pendleton shop. Eventually, they moved back to Washington, and settled in the Seven Lakes area near Stanwood for several years before finding their dream retirement home on Camano Island in 2011. 

Early the following spring, they went to a Crab Feed at the Camano Center. Within a few weeks, Connie had started volunteering both there, and at 2nd Chance Thrift Shop. She began her tenure at the Camano Center front desk the following year, arranging trips and administering the medical transportation program. 

She retired in the spring of 2018, and was asked to join the Board of Directors shortly thereafter. Having the opportunity to become a part of the important work of the Camano Center in so many different ways, and thereby getting to know so many wonderful people in this community has been a rare privilege.