Obituary: Josephine ‘Jo’ Linnea Johnson Rennich

Josephine “Jo” Linnea Johnson Rennich of Oak Ridge died peacefully at home on May 9. She was 101 years old.

Jo and her husband, the late George Rennich, and their five children moved to Oak Ridge from Glen Rock, N.J., in 1954. Prior to that, the family lived in several other locations, including Pittsburgh, Pa., Long Island, N.Y., and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jo was born on June 24, 1912, in Fleming Park, Pa., and raised in the town of McKees Rocks, Pa., both just northwest of Pittsburgh. The youngest of five children of a Swedish immigrant family, she was an honor student in high school and went on to earn a B.A. degree from the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) and an M.Ed. degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught at the junior high school level for several years before and after her marriage in 1941.

Jo was a talented pianist who played most often for church-related events, particularly those at the McKees Rocks Presbyterian Church, of which she was a member. When their church organist died, Jo taught herself to play that instrument so the congregation could continue to enjoy music from the organ that was a gift to the church from Andrew Carnegie.

After coming to Oak Ridge, the Rennich family joined First Presbyterian Church, where Jo participated in a monthly Bible study group. She was a member of an investment club, served as a Cub Scout den mother, and belonged to the American Association of University Women.

She and her husband supported various community organizations, including The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and The Oak Ridge Playhouse. Jo also participated in the English as a Second Language program; she and her student, a young Chinese-speaking woman, became close friends. Jo and her husband loved to travel. Before George died in 1997, they took several long camping trips to the American West. They also visited many countries in Europe and the Holy Land. Later she was able to visit Paris, China, and Alaska.

Preceding Jo in death were her loving husband George; her parents, John August Johnson and Anna Christina Blomqvist Johnson; her sister Edith Phlegar; three brothers, August, Nelson, and Ernest Johnson; and a granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Griffith.

She is survived by her five children and their spouses: Sandra and Robert Edwards, Marion and Thomas Griffith, John and Paula Rennich, Mark Rennich and Vicki Mayfield, and George Q. Rennich and Jane Sasser. In addition, she leaves nine grandchildren; Laura Edwards, Robert and Katherine Griffith, Jason and Karen Rennich, Anna and Sarah Rennich, and Daniel Rennich and Amandalyn Rennich-Yang. Survivors also include two step-grandchildren, Michael and Stephen Coffey, and nine great-grandchildren.

A family service in loving memory of Josephine Rennich will be followed by internment of her ashes in the Oak Ridge First Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden.

Online messages to the family may be left at www.martinfuneralhomeoakridge.com . Martin Oak Ridge Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.