Celebration of life to be held Saturday for Modesto education leader Odessa Johnson
A celebration of life will be held Saturday for longtime Modesto education leader Odessa Johnson, who died in April at 86.
It will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Modesto Junior College auditorium, 435 College Ave., preceded by a reception at 1 p.m. in the college’s Art Gallery.
Johnson grew up in segregated South Carolina before attending Tennessee State University. She earned her master’s from Columbia University.
In 1962, she became the first Black teacher at Modesto High School. She was later dean of education and workforce development at MJC.
After retiring, Johnson served on the Modesto City Schools board for four terms and was appointed a regent for the University of California in 1999. As a regent, she advocated for a medical school at UC Merced.
She was honored in February with the Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award at an MJC celebration, though was absent due to health reasons.
Johnson led the way for Black educators in Modesto, becoming a household name for students. She remained active in MJC’s Modesto Institute for Continued Learning in her later years.
She died on April 21.
“There has never been a finer person. I was honored to have worked with Odessa at Modesto Junior College,” wrote Derek Waring, an emeritus dean of counseling and student services at MJC. “(She was) always a person to lean on, a willing ear, a kind voice to help guide staff and students.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:11 PM.
