GORHAM – Ida “Betty” Jardine Johnston, 79, of Main Street, Gorham, died unexpectedly Friday, May 9.

Betty and her twin sister, Sally, were born in Brookline, Mass., on June 29, 1928. Betty spent her youth, adolescence and young adulthood living in Boston and Falmouth, Mass., until she married her husband, James F. Johnston Jr., on March 31, 1951.

Betty and Jim raised their four children in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Lewiston, after they relocated there when her husband became the co-owner of Maine Engineering in Auburn.

Betty was a devoted wife and mother. She was an active member of the Episcopal Church and worked in the registrar’s office at Bates College for several years before she and her husband retired to West Yarmouth, Mass.

After her husband became ill with Alzheimer’s disease, they moved to Gorham to be closer to their children.

Betty loved animals, especially her many pet dogs and cats. They held a very special place in her heart and she was devoted to them.

Survivors include her children, James F. Johnston III and his wife, Betsy, of South Berwick, Harold Jardine Johnston of Gorham, and Judith Remington Johnston and her husband, Andrew Arsenault, of Wells; a twin sister, Sally Grafa and her husband, Jack, of San Angelo, Texas; a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Remington and Catherine Johnston of St. Simon’s Island, Ga.; grandchildren, Bryant James Trombly, Kathleen Johnston Trombly, Liza Jardine Johnston, Emma Noel Johnston, Alice Mary Arsenault, Charles Andrew Arsenault, and Lucy Fox Arsenault.

Betty was predeceased by her husband; and her daughter, Nancy Johnston Gamez.