Celebrating 50 years in the Parkmore community, the formidable Rose Johnson is well-known for her contribution to the Friends of Field and Study centre and park.
Her active community journey, however, began long before that.
Johnson’s story began when Sandton was just a blurb. “Rivonia Road was the countryside. There was one little segment that had a shop, a post office and that was it,” she smiled.
Johnson was always an active community personality, beginning with her work with one of the first ratepayers’ associations in Sandton. Her presence in the City council was quite well known, so much so that she was nicknamed the ‘little housewife’.
The nickname came about when Johnson was the only opposing vote on a major structural housing development plan for the Sandton area. She stood strong beside her vote, gaining the support of fellow council members and Johannesburg’s first black mayor, Isaac Mogase.
“It was strange because I thought that I could just vote against the development and that would be it. In the end, I had so many people stood behind me who helped me with everything and guess what? The ‘little housewife’ won,” Johnson laughed.
Many more City council encounters later, Johnson settled down to manage and oversee the Ernest Ullmann Park in Morningside. She later came on board as chairwoman of the non-profit Friends of Field and Study Centre in Parkmore.
Working alongside the park’s operations manager Barbara Grey, the pair created a vibrant community.
“Barbara was amazing, a wonderful woman to work with because she felt so passionate about the park and the Field and Study (recreation) Centre,” she added.
When the Field and Study was divided, the recreation centre and the park were managed by separate entities. Johnson stayed on to oversee the park.
Today Johnson’s passion can be seen as she looks over the park, observing the view and identifying park regulars. Even after managing the park for just over 13 years, she can still be seen enjoying the atmosphere with a tea in hand from the River Café.
