Dorothy Johns Gard, 101, passed away, the evening of September 9, 2020 at the Mennonite Home. She was married for 61 years to George E. Gard who passed away in 2003. Born in 1918 in Lancaster, she was the daughter of the late George H. Johns and Anna Killian Johns. After the early death of her mother, Dorothy grew up in the Johns family home in Columbia with her father and his sister Anna (Aunt Annie to the grandkids). Dorothy was an accomplished piano player, studying under Prof. J. Carl Knisley and was a member of the Knisley 8 Piano Ensemble that practiced and played concerts in York, PA in the 30’s. Dorothy graduated from Columbia High School in 1936 and was the class Salutatorian, which gained her a scholarship to help her pursue a College education at Penn State University. Dorothy graduated from PSU in 1940 with the class that donated the famous Nittany Lion statue. After college she began a teaching career in Paradise, PA as a French teacher. In 1942, she married George E. Gard, her college beau, and started raising a family of three children, Barbara, George, and Linda, who all graduated from Hempfield High School. After the kids were out of the house, Dot and her husband, George, started fixing up the family farmhouse outside of Columbia, along the Route 30 bypass (remember the famous white horse that stood watch over the bypass). There they would enjoy 30 years tending their garden and fruit trees and entertaining in the summer house with its beehive wood fired oven. Dorothy was a lifelong member of Salem UCC in Columbia. She also enjoyed volunteering at the Columbia Library. Dorothy remained on the farm until 2006, at which point she moved to Woodcrest Villa on the Harrisburg Pike where she lived until 2016, when she moved across the street to live at the Mennonite Home. Dorothy’s passion was her family and genealogy. Spending countless hours on her computer, visiting cemeteries, and traveling to national archives, she worked to chronicle the history of the Gard and Johns family heritage. Dorothy continued to keep in touch with family and friends via her computer well into her 101st year. Dorothy (Dot) Gard was a special Lady, a special person. She will be greatly missed.
Dorothy is survived by her three children and four grandchildren: Barbara Gard and husband Phil Kohl of Antrim, NH and their son, Owen Kohl, Chicago, IL and daughter, Mira Kohl, New Orleans, LA and fiancé, Tom Edick; George J. Gard and wife Molly Gard of York, PA and their son, George H. Gard and wife, Hannah Zellers, Boston, MA and son, Fred Gard, York, PA; and Rev. Linda K. Gard, New Gloucester, ME.
The Family would like to thank the health care workers at the Mennonite Home for their brave, dedicated service and care during this unprecedented time of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Private Tribute Service will be held with the burial in Conestoga Memorial Park. Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to: Salem UCC Church, 324 Walnut Street, Columbia, PA 17512. Arrangements by the Workman Funeral Homes, Inc., 31 South Eighth Street, Columbia. To send an online condolence visit the condolence page.
