Joycelyn Johnson, longtime city council member, dead at 73
Joycelyn Johnson
The city of Winston-Salem lost another icon when it was announced that longtime city council member Joycelyn Johnson died last week.
Johnson served four terms on the council from 1993 to 2009 as the representative for the East Ward. During her tenure on the council, Johnson also served as chair of the Public Works committee and pushed for improved working conditions for the city’s sanitation division. For her hard work and dedication to the citizens of Winston-Salem, in 2018 the city’s public works facility located on Lowery Street was renamed the Jocelyn Johnson Municipal Service Facility. On the day the sign was unveiled, Johnson thanked her supporters.
“It’s all about you. For all the things that you think I’ve done, it’s because of all of you,” Johnson said. “Regardless of the thickness of the forests we’ve been in, whether it was with housing, community and economic development or health care, you all have been a part of it. This is your day just as much as it is mine.”
Johnson also spearheaded several other projects across the city. She is credited for rejuvenating the area along Patterson Avenue, Old Greensboro Road, New Walkertown Road, Dreamland Park and the Fourteenth Street Community. She also led business analysis for New Walkertown Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Liberty Street, and Lowery Street.
As news of Johnson’s passing started to surface on social media, Mayor Allen Joines made the following statement: “On behalf of the citizens of Winston-Salem, I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of former Council Member Joycelyn Johnson. Joycelyn Johnson was a dedicated public servant who worked hard for not only the citizens of the East Ward, but also for the good of the entire community,” Joines continued.
“On a personal level, I was able to work with Ms. Johnson as a member of the city staff and then as a fellow elected official. I was always appreciative of her kind and gentle manner, while respectful of her fierce advocacy for programs she felt were needed.”
