MONMOUTH – Barbara Tatham Johnson, 68, a resident of Monmouth Ridge, Monmouth, died Thursday, April 28, at home with family by her side after a six-week illness with Leukemia.

The family thanks Maine Medical Center for their wonderful care.

She was born Nov. 22, 1936, in Newton, Mass., the daughter of Richard and Florence (Malette) Tatham. She attended Lynn English High School in Lynn, Mass. She also attended the University of Massachusetts, and graduated from West Virginia University in 1971.

On Feb. 23, 1957, she married Paul Johnson in Lynn, Mass.

She loved studying, teaching and writing about many topics, especially the natural world through the seasons. She had articles in Country Journal, The Local Voice, Maine Times and the Wolf Moon Press Journal in Winthrop.

She was known for her excellent cooking and enjoyed the company of her many friends.

She was hoping to hear the song of the bobolink, a bird which usually returns to Monmouth from Paraguay, South America about May 9 every year. She was active in the Stanton Bird Club of Lewiston and Monmouth, the Josslyn Botanical Society, the Downeast Outing Club, and was a member of the Nature Conservancy, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and the Kennebec Land Trust.

She also enjoyed visiting museums everywhere, the Railroad Square Cinema, the Theater at Monmouth, and listening to good music.

She is survived by her husband, Paul Johnson, of Monmouth; three sons, Robert Johnson and his wife, Kate, of Milford, Mass., Richard Johnson of Berlin, Md., and Alan Johnson and his wife, Jennifer, of Wilson, N.C.; six grandchildren, Erin, Ryan, Samuel, Katherine, Elizabeth and Isabelle; a twin sister, Beverly Orr of Glen Burnie, Md.; two brothers, Richard Tatham of San Diego, Calif., and David Tatham and his wife, Cleota Reed, of Syracuse, N.Y.; and several nieces and nephews.