Eliane Johnson – San Diego Union-Tribune

Eliane Johnson, née Mangassar, was born in 1943 in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in central Iraq near the site of the fabled Garden of Eden. Her father was the superintend- ent of one of the major installations of the Iraq/British Petroleum Company, and she experienced a remarkable, cross-cultural life as a young girl. She loved to tell stories of dramatic sandstorms, Bedouin feasts in the middle of the desert, and learning to swim and fish along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This idyllic life came to a violent end with the 1958 revolution in Iraq, leading the family to relocate to Beirut. Her extended family had been living in this bubbling, cosmopolitan city for decades, and its mix of cultures, languages, religions, and politics molded her spirit. She grew up speaking the King’s English and perfect classical French, with dollops of Arabic, Italian, and Greek to boot.

This international formation led her to her first job as an interpreter for the CEO of Dassault Aviation in Bordeaux, France, at a time when they were developing and marketing the legendary Mirage/Falcon jets. She also managed her family’s business interests in Knightsbridge, London, during its dynamic heyday. Still, she longed for Lebanon and returned to Beirut in 1965 to put her Library Science background to work at the American University of Beirut. During this time, she also worked with UNRWA teaching English to displaced children in the surrounding Palestinian refugee camps. This experience was deeply impactful and sparked her lifelong advocacy for Palestinian self-determination and peace in the Middle East.

She recalled those days with vivid descriptions of swimming in the Mediterranean in front of the iconic St. Georges Hotel after work, living with her beloved aunt Nou-Nou, who entertained her close-knit university friends, and “meeting” her husband, Dr. Allen “Skip” Johnson, who swan-dived into the sea to grab her attention. His Commonwealth Medical Exchange with Johns Hopkins University was framed by their first date in Baalbek and a high Greek Orthodox mass/marriage a month later. The bride wore a Courrèges mini dress and the groom sported vine leaves in his hair. Their honeymoon took them around the world, with a first stop in Tehran, then on to Calcutta, Bangkok, Kyoto and the Hawaiian islands. They finally landed in Baltimore, Maryland and started their life together in Skip’s Hopkins’ resident housing – launching them into their 60-year marriage.

When California called with opportunity, the couple drove across the country in a VW square back with most of their possessions and two daughters under two between them in the front seat. Crossing over Ardath Road into La Jolla and to the sparkling welcome of the Pacific, Eliane exclaimed, “I’m home!”

She was immediately connected to a landscape that reminded her of her beloved Beirut and felt welcomed by the international, open-minded crowd that made up UCSD in the 1970s. The Lebanese and Persian diaspora that animated La Jolla at this time was an embrace. Eliane loved the social fabric of her town, but was not a social climber. She made a big impact by spreading simple acts of warmth and kindness that were a natural extension of her culture and spirit. Her joie de vivre and keen wit charmed most anyone who crossed her path. Her home was open, and her dinner table and colorful patios were always inviting.

Eliane raised her daughters in a deeply spiritual, cross-cultural environment, despite a profound distrust of organized religion. Her garden was her chapel, and she cultivated her own little Eden of natural beauty that stepped down to a five-acre open space she saved from development. In 1987, she rallied for “Blue Bird Canyon” to be dedicated to the City of San Diego in perpetuity.

Reading was a passion for Eliane and she quoted constantly to her daughters and cherished grandson, Theo, from Kahlil Gibran, Tales of the Hodja, Lawrence Durrell, and her favorite, Rainer Maria Rilke. She loved to sing old French folk songs while gardening and cooking and during childhood bedtimes. She sang until her family knew these songs by heart, and in turn they sang them along with her until her very last moments.

To celebrate Eliane’s marvelous life, her family invites you to join them for a series of festive gatherings this fall. If you knew and loved Eliane, or if she made a little or large impact on your daily life, please contact Skip Johnson by text or phone at 858-414-4220, and we’ll be most happy to include you!…Read more by San Diego Union-Tribune