On Saturday November 1st, 2014, Mary Hampton Erwin Johnston, 89, passed away peacefully at the Carolyn Croxton Slane Residence of the Hospice of Central Pennsylvania. At the time of her passing, she was surrounded by her family, as well as some of the many friends she had made on the professional and volunteer hospice staff. A resident of the Harrisburg area for six decades, since 1957, Hampie had resided with her husband James M. Johnston, who passed away in 1997, and her family in her home in Cedar Cliff Manor, Camp Hill.
Hampie grew up as the youngest sibling in a family of nine brothers and sisters, as well as many extended family, on the beautiful Erwin family farm, located in Steele Creek, North Carolina, just south of Charlotte. She was the daughter of the late Frank and Maude (Thompson) Erwin. She and Jim, a safety engineer with Travelers Insurance, married in Steele Creek and moved to Harrisburg, following a brief time in Indiana.
Hampie was accomplished at many activities. She was an expert clothing designer and seamstress, who loved to do small construction projects around the home and to tend to her vegetable garden and flowers. In her younger years, Hampie loved to play golf and tennis, or watch college basketball with her family. Professionally, she was also administrative coordinator, who worked in insurance offices when she could take time from raising her family. A former deacon at Market Square Presbyterian Church, Hampie assisted in teaching Sunday school to small children, delighting in helping them with their music and interesting projects. Many of her lifelong friends were her neighbors and those she met at Market Square.
More than anything, Hampie's legacy is the family, here in Pennsylvania, as well as those in her beloved North Carolina. She was very proud of them all. She is survived by her daughter Pamela Nancy Johnston, a graduate of Penn State University, Pam's daughter Samantha Hampton Johnston, an accomplished concert violist; Samantha's son Nathan Joel Johnston, aged 4; son James Erwin Johnston, a retired Army officer and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and his wife Susan Marie Tendy, a former professor at West Point, residents of Cornwall, New York; and James's son James Eric Johnston, now of St. Petersburg, Florida, a graduate of the University of Maastricht.
The family will receive visitors at the Myers-Harner Funeral Home, 1903 Market St, Camp Hill, on Wednesday November 5, 2014 from 7:00-8:00 P.M. Funeral services will be at 10:00 am on Thursday, November 6th at Market Square Presbyterian Church, 20 S. Second Street, Harrisburg. In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations in the name of Hampton Johnston to Hospice of Central Pennsylvania, 1320 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110