Beatrice Bethel Johnson, 96, formerly of Philadelphia, the first Black librarian in the School District of Philadelphia, retired teacher, longtime business owner, one-time Sunday School director, mentor, and community advocate, died Monday, Aug. 21, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at her home in Chesapeake, Va.
“Her love for reading and books was her life’s calling,” her daughter, Adriana Bethel-Hibbler, and longtime friend, Karyn Brockington Conway, said in a tribute. “Every child that came into her presence left with a higher sense of themselves, their culture, and infinite possibilities of the life that was ahead of them.”
“With a gracious easygoing personality and warm sense of humor, Beatrice’s acts of service endeared her to all who knew her,” Bethel-Hibbler and Brockington Conway said. She was a role model for countless neighbors and mentored hundreds of students and other young people beginning in the late 1950s. “She helped escort these children through the civil rights era,” Bethel-Hibbler and Brockington Conway said. “Her love, devotion, and commitment to the preservation of African American history was unparalleled.”
Mrs. Johnson was classy and elegant, her family said, and people were drawn to her “spirit and infectious smile.” She loved to shop. She was an engaging people person, and those who visited described her home as a “welcoming lighthouse for family and friends.”