Remembering Emerita Patricia Johansson, English professor 1969-1998

Patricia Johansson, beloved Lecturer Emerita of English and Associate Dean of the College, passed away on April 7, 2022, at the age of 91. Professor Johansson joined the English faculty at Wake Forest in 1969 after receiving a BA from Winston-Salem State and a master’s degree from Wake Forest. She taught English at Wake Forest and abroad in Venice, was an early recipient of the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1973, and served as an academic dean of the College. 

Professor Johansson spent much of her time as a dean advising and counseling students. Students loved her classes, and she loved the students back. Professor Claudia Kairoff remarked that when she taught at Casa Artom in Fall 2021, she received a visitor who had studied abroad there with Professor Johansson thirty years before, and “he raved about her leadership of his group and the courses she taught there. So it’s safe to affirm that Pat made a deep impression on her students, one of a deeply caring teacher who loved literature and everyone she taught or advised.” 

A memorial service will be held on Monday, May 2, at 11 a.m. in St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem.

A loving tribute from her family remembers Professor Johansson as a remarkable, witty woman who “persistently pursued the desires of her heart – family, learning, fellowship, faith, and connection with the natural world.”

And Winston-Salem Journal’s John Hinton writes about her experience as the first white student to receive a BA from Winston-Salem State University here.