Johanna R. Hayden, 95, of Hughesville, Maryland passed away peacefully at home on July 4, 2023, after a lengthy illness. She was the daughter of Salvation Army Captains Erich and Elise Roestel and was born in the bustling city of Essen, Germany. When Johanna was only two years of age, her father passed away. Directly after the funeral, her mother moved with her six young children to the city of Gorlitz on the German-Polish border. At the young age of three, Johanna spontaneously announced to a Salvation Army pastor that she had Jesus in her heart. Her whole life was an unwavering testimony of faith.
Johanna survived the ravages of war in Germany during World War II. She had many stories of survival that she loved to share with others, always ending with words of faith. As war refugees in a bombed city, a sister recalled Johanna sitting on a train platform deeply in prayer unaware that the sister was stomping out smoldering embers at the hem of Johanna’s dress. Johanna nearly starved to death during the war’s aftermath, rising from what was presumed her death bed after receiving food provided from a food drop by the allied forces.
Johanna completed elementary school and entered a business apprenticeship program which she was able to complete amidst the interruptions of war. Although her education placed her in an office environment, the war years caused much movement in her early work life. She had a natural artistic ability which found her at various retail shop jobs throughout those tumultuous years. She was the sole hatmaker in a small retail business of hats, shoes, and belts; she painted flowers on wooden buttons intended for apparel; and she wrote proverbs in calligraphy on small plaques and paintings for sale in an art shop.
Johanna loved to tell the story of how, after the war years, she met her American husband on a train leaving London. She had worked in a London orphanage and was returning to her sister’s home in Germany. Her future husband was a graduate student taking weekend sightseeing trips in Europe while studying in Germany. They learned that they were headed home to the same German city. After crossing the English Channel by ferry, her future husband then switched his train ticket to continue the journey in her company. At their destination, he gave her his German home address and offered to give her copies of photos he had taken. On hearing the story, her brother-in-law accompanied her to visit her soon-to-be husband, and within a few weeks, she was married and embarking on a new life in America.
Johanna would say that in life, with all of its troubles and losses, of which there would be many, we were to remember that in the end, we would have gained more than we had lost. She was ever optimistic that through life’s sorrows and burdens, the Lord would carry her through it all. She had a beautiful soloist singing voice that spanned nearly three octaves in range and loved to sing both at home and in the church choir. She will be deeply missed.
She was the widow of Leonard O. Hayden. She is survived by her son James Erich Hayden, daughter Rose Marie Hayden, daughter Karin Howard (Greg), grandson William Howard, and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family will receive friends for visitation on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Brinsfield Funeral Home and Crematory, P.A. 30195 Three Notch Road, Charlotte Hall, MD 20622. Interment will be held on August 3, 2023, at 1:45 pm at Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery, 11301 Crain Highway, Post Office Box 10, Cheltenham, MD 20623.
Condolences can be made to the family at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com
Arrangements by Brinsfield Funeral Home, Charlotte Hall, MD