Johanna Ruth Crawford

Johanna “Johey” Ruth  Crawford was born to Carol  (Blanchard, Yeager) and  Richard (Dick) Crawford at  Parkview Hospital in Toledo,  Ohio, rightly on the summer solstice of June 21,1955;  a universal cosmic date that  personifies the triumph of  hope amid darkness. A victim of gun violence, Johey  was brutally murdered in  her home December 16, 2021  where she had spent the evening catching up with close  friends by phone, finalizing  holiday plans with family,  tucking her custodial grandchild safely into bed, and  finishing the last of her baking for a holiday party at her  grandchild’s school the next  day. 

Early in life, Johey developed a strong self-interest  that never wained from helping others, regardless  of many traumatic upheavals throughout her child hood and adult years. Johey’s compassion and belief  in walking the walk of the  Good Samaritan, guided her  throughout her shortened  life, and even through her  last moments as a mortal on  this earth.  

Boundless creativity, along  with many innate and developed talents, helped shape Johey’s varied interests  

and passions. Johey started  playing flute in elementary  school, performing in both  school recitals and for her  church. Johey’s love of music grew as she joined her  church choir, and that love  expanded even further during high school where she  excelled at playing both flute  and piccolo. Johey’s mother  especially loved to hear her  play and was known to say,  “Johey could make a piece of  metal sound like a bird singing”. Her sister Jenny always  thought it was so cool that Jo hey could keep playing while  she marched on the football  field and in parades as a  proud member of the Bedford  High School marching band,  noting that Johey believed,  everyone one of us should  be an instrument of change  tasked with making a difference during our limited time  on earth. As a teen, Johey  first demonstrated her passion for social advocacy by  leading a sit-in at her school.  When her brother Rick was  asked if he remembered Jo hey organizing a school sit in, he laughingly responded,  “which one?”. Rick shared  that at that time, the school  dress code required female  students to wear skirts or  dresses, and forbid them  from wearing pants. Rick  further explained that it  was winter and Johey wasn’t  having it. Johey started  talking to friends and rally ing schoolmates and before  long a school sit in was in  progress. Rick smiled as he  reflected on this sister Johey’s steadfast determination and proudly shared that  the dress code was in fact  revised because of Johey’s  actions.  

Johey had a lifelong love of  theater, taking her grand daughter and niece just  weeks ago to see the The  Hip Hop Nutcracker at the  Detroit Opera House, and  taking her daughter Hayley  to experience one of Johey’s  

favorite musicals, Rent. Johey’s early love of theater  began in high school, captivated while working behind  the scenes with costumes,  makeup and set design,  eventually earning the role  of stage manager. Excited to  share her love for the arts,  Johey regularly incorporated her siblings into her high  school stage crew through  set building, running lights  and sounds, even getting  her little brother Brian cast  in his first on stage performance. Johey’s passion for  shared life experiences so  strongly influenced her sib lings that several went into  future careers in the building trades, and her brother  Brian worked stage crew and  lights in high school and be yond. Johey’s active participation in theater continued  with later work at the Toledo  Rep and by establishing the  Awesome Christian Ensemble (A.C.E.) theater group  while a then parishioner  at Salem Lutheran Church  where she volunteered as  theater director, script writ er, costume designer and  seamstress. 

Johey’s passions also consist of a profound love for  reading. Johey’s dad proudly  remembers applying for his  first library card through  Johey’s encouragement during her many years of work  at the main branch of the Toledo Lucas County Library.  Johey’s many causes have  always kept her busy including several in the 1980s by  serving as the Toledo Chap ter President of the National  Organization for Women  (NOW), community organizing for better housing aid in  Toledo’s poorest districts,  and by running a non-partisan voter registration campaign for Project Vote where  she met and persuasively  convinced her now husband,  Knute Huber, then Director  of The Helping Hands of St.  Louis food program, to establish his site for voter registration to help empower his clients and to give the unheard  a voice as viable constituents  within their community.  Married on February 8, 1986,  Johey and Knute worked together to not only change the  world for better, but to lead  by example by modeling the  importance of community  activism to their blended  family that would eventually  include seven children, plus a Village of kindred family.  Anyone who knows Johey  well, also knows that she was  never afraid to speak her  mind and challenge the status quo. A fervent believer  in the motto of the late civil  rights activist and United  States congressman, John  Lewis, Johey never backed  down from stirring up “good  trouble”. Her daughter Nicole gifted Johey these immortal words as a tattoo  that Johey wore with pride.  Johey is known by many for  her tendentious spirit, never  afraid to go toe-to-toe with  Mayors and other elected officials, doctors, CEOs and the  like when confronting stake holders who are more “devoted to “order” than to justice.”  Another talent of Johey’s  was her ability to somehow  squeeze extra hours into every day she lived as she tried  diligently to balance the ever  tipping scales of work and  life. In her 40’s when Johey  decided to pursue her R.N.  degree she was working full time and running a house hold with five children. As  all mere mortals, Johey was self-admittedly not a saint  and also known to lose her  cool. Yet Johey’s devoted belief in the power and gift of  redemption, not only for her self but for the other trauma  induced patients, clients,  and community members  she fought for everyday, gave  her the wisdom to start the  slow healing process of self reflection in attempt to make  peace with hurt loved ones  

and with self regrets made  along her life journey. In the  words of the also uncompromising social advocate Dolly  Parton, “redemption comes  in many shapes with many  kinds of pain.” This was  something Johey knew personally and fought to change  in herself, and for the many  others she encountered also  

seeking self redemption. Johey most recent life passions included her career  choice to become a full-time  pediatric nurse for the chronic and terminally ill at Mott  Children’s Hospital, taking  on the roll of full-time custodial grandparent in her 60’s  of her beloved Adi who has  thrived under the love and  perseverance of her “Bob’s”  and Grandpa Knute (Johey’s  name affectional given to  her by her first grandchild,  Javier who as a toddler was  unable to pronounce “Abuel ita”) at Johey’s insistence  for early intervention treatment, education and support  for Aid through the help of  Double Arc Center for FASD,  Adi’s now also love for the  arts has been a valued out let for this amazing child  so she can realize her own  beauty through dance, painting and performance arts, a  dedicated advocate as a Lucas County Juvenile Court  Court Appointed Special  Advocate (CASA) for which  Johey was received a CASA  Courage award her first year  in the program, and this past  summer as a the facilitator of  the expansion of their newest family member, Ryder,  BFF and therapy assistance  dog to Adeline through the  renowned local resources of  The Ability Center, for which  Adeline was recently com mended for her outstanding  care and support of Ryder. Johey is survived by her  husband; Knute Huber, children; Carrie (Steve) Size more, Socorro Sevilla (Dan  Kruse), Heather Huber (Nate  Klingensmith), Kevin Huber  

(Sarina), Elizabeth Huber  and Nicole Huber, grandchildren; Javier Sevilla, Nathan  Sizemore, Chasadey (Chuck)  Wright, Isabelle Sizemore,  Evan Klingensmith, 

Ethan Klingensmith, Malik  Huber, Adeline Huber, Emiliano Huber, Cisco Huber,  Zayden Huber, great-grand kids; Callie Sizemore, No lan, Nevin, Nathanial, Bai ley and Beckett Wright, The  Village; Tianda Mims; Carl,  Andre and CJ Mims, Mary  Lou Baumgartner; Irene  (Emon, Yusef), Maya, Yuki  Mineoi, Hayley (Ari & Leah),  parents; Dick (Faye) Craw 

ford) and Amy Crawford, siblings; Rick (Beckie)  Crawford, Jenny Crawford,  Julie (Jim) Murray, Dan  (Sylvia) Yeager, Brian Craw ford, Kelly Crawford, Kathy  Crawford (Bob Savage), and  life long friend; Faith Einerson. Johey is preceded in  death by her beloved child,  Micaela (Mica) Faith Sevilla,  and parents, Carol and Dan  Yeager. 

A Celebration of Life Service  will take place on January  29, 2022 at 29101 Hufford Rd.  Perrysburg Ohio 43551 from  11:30 a.m. - ? In honor of our  fallen friend, please come  causally dressed, no suits or  ties, always prepared to stir  up some good trouble. Please  come to share your stories  and love for Johanna, aka  Johey, aka “Bob”, aka Mom,  aka a beautiful soul who’s  work we need to rally for to  help continue her unfinished  business. Johey’s family is  currently working with the  Toledo Community Foundation to establish a non-profit  legacy foundation in Johey’s  name to posthumously support all of the many, many  social causes Johey was  forced to abruptly leave be hind. As said by Johey’s dear  friend Faith’s son, Johey died  as she had lived her entire  life, defending a child.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Johanna Ruth Crawford, please visit our floral store.