Obituary: Shirley Reesor Johnston, former Wellesley resident

Shirley Reesor Johnston, a resident of Ithaca, NY, and former resident of Wellesley, MA passed away on August 24th  with family at her side. She was 97 years old.

Shirley was born on July 4, 1927 to Dorothy Webster and her husband, Colby Reesor, a second generation Alberta rancher. Colby had answered Canada’s call to arms, and while recovering from wounds, met pianist Dorothy Webster in a hospital in Leeds, England.  The two married, moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta, and had four children, Shirley being the eldest girl. Shirley’s formative years were filled with hard work, but also lieder, opera, an abundance of popular music, show tunes, athletics and a true love of nature cultivated in the Cypress Hills on the Reesor ranch.

Shirley knew what she wanted in life: she was ambitious and disciplined.  An accomplished pianist, Shirley enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her studies were interrupted when she met Reed Johnston, her future husband of 67 years. They lived in Palo Alto, Ralston, Quebec City, adding four children along the way, finally settling in Wellesley, MA. With Shirley’s genuine interest in people, she made lifelong friends wherever they lived.

When her children were school aged, she earned a Bachelor of Music in piano at New England Conservatory of Music. She relished her relationships with young classmates and faculty and religiously attended “First Monday” concerts well into her 80’s. For over ten years, she continued her education in Dalcroze Eurhythmics and the Kodaly method, integrating those ideas into her piano teaching in her studios which she had for nearly 20 years in Wellesley and Newton.

Shirley was an elegant woman with a killer sense of humor and a deep repository of ditties. Shirley played tennis into her 80s with friends and family at their summer home in Maine and while wintering in Mesa, AZ. In later years, she loved watching grand slam tennis, reading on the porch, celebrating whatever nature had to offer.  She urged her grandchildren to act boldly in life, allowing each to drive on the back roads of Maine at criminally young ages.

Shirley was predeceased by her husband, Reed Johnston in 2018. She will be sorely missed by her four children, David of Lancaster, PA, Hugh (Erica Johnson) of Wellesley, MA, Donald of Coatesville, PA, and Shelagh (Louis Riley) of Ithaca, NY, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. The family expresses their sincere gratitude for the wonderful care that she received at Evergreen House in Jacksonville, NY. A private celebration of her life will take place in 2025.  Donations in Shirley’s memory may be given to a charity of your choice or to New England Conservatory.

Obituaries of current or past Wellesley residents and community members can be sent to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com