Throwback Thursday: Remembering a Bowling Green community service icon, Romanza Johnson
Last week, Bowling Green lost one of the biggest hearts for community service this generation has ever seen. Romanza LaMoyne Oliphant Johnson, a Scottsville native and Bowling Green champion, passed away. Born in 1939, she was devoted to education and family. Earning a Bachelor of Science and Masters degrees from Western Kentucky University, she paved the way for leading women in our community from the start.
A natural leader, she participated in local pageants and the arts. 1960 Bowling Green Daily News articles show she performed in WKU’s Summer Theatre productions of “Our Town” and “Night Must Fall.” Her appreciation for entertainment continued through the Bowling Green Woman’s Club events, even landing her the title of the Biggest Brownie Bake-Up volunteer coordinator in 2000, when she led Bowling Green to achieving a new world record set for the biggest chocolate brownie. It was baked in June and part of the annual beloved Duncan Hines Festival of years’ past, weighing in at 920 lbs. and sized at over 390 square feet.
She taught Home Economics at Scottsville High School, along with being an instructor at WKU in the Home Economics Department in Foods, Housing, and Interior Design. A trailblazer, she was the first ever Home Economist for Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, serving over 20 years.
While she believed in the power of education, we also mentioned also was an avid community service advocate. Her work in the Angel Tree Program granted her honor at The Salvation Army Champions of Hope Luncheon. She received the first ever Hilltopper Excellence Award. Hospice of Southern Kentucky gave her its first ever Lotus Award. Romanza worked with WKU Home Economics Alumni, Phi Upsilon Omicron, the Kentucky Association of Retired Teachers, and Kentucky Educational Television. For years, she also served as a Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce Ambassador to the President.
She and her late husband also donated a couple of acres on Trammel Creek to Warren County in the mid-1990s to be developed as a nature park. Now, Romanza Johnson Park serves as an excellent canoe and kayak access to the creek, along with fishing access and a picnic shelter.
Not only did Romanza and her family believe in serving in the moment, but also in legacy, as they established a College Heights Foundation scholarship at WKU to help pave the way for new generations of community servants.
When her passing was announced, the community outpouring of countless stories of moments with Romanza over the years was evident on social media. Reporters were getting messages and texts of genuinely sweet memories of interacting with Romanza at this event or that one, always with a smile. The commonality between all of Romanza’s loving friends and family is how much she cared about this place we call home in Bowling Green. She spent over 85 years investing in this community to make it a better place.
Thank you, Romanza Johnson. You are loved and greatly missed.
