Irmgard Hedwig Rischbieter Johnston

Irmgard H. Johnston (formerly Rischbieter, nee Adamus) passed away with family at her bedside on January 15, 2021 in Owasso, Oklahoma.  Born November 8, 1927 in Cosel, Germany to Bruno Paul and Maria Magdalena Adamus ( nee Wiesiolek), she was the youngest of three siblings and grew up in Berlin.  She is survived by her sister Ingeborg Olschak of Neuffen, Germany and was preceded in death by her brother Ernst-Walter Adamus.  Having lost her fiancé in World War II, she met her first husband Oswald Harold Theodor Rischbieter after the War.  In Berlin she gave birth to two children, Harold who preceded her in death (1949-1949) and Barbara (1951), before immigrating to Montreal, Canada in 1954. This was via a sailing journey with a few trunks of possessions from Bremerhaven, Germany to Halifax, Nova Scotia, leaving their entire families behind.  In Montreal she helped her husband complete electronics engineering school.  The Rischbieter family of three then emigrated via a drive from Canada to Cupertino, California in 1960, where her son Douglas was born (1961) and she worked as a dental assistant.  There Irmgard Rischbieter also proudly gained her American citizenship in 1966, shortly before she and her family became residents of Arnold, California that same year.  As an entrepreneur in Arnold, she created a vacation property management business Mountain Home Service which she continued to operate through the tragic death of her husband Oswald (1923-1974) until her retirement in 1989.  May 1, 1989 she married longtime family friend and retired Arnold realtor Ransford James Johnston, who preceded her in death in 2002.  The Johnstons were residents of Amarillo, Texas where she lived until becoming a resident of Brookdale-Owasso in 2018; like throughout her life, she made dear new friends during the two-and-a-half years of her Brookdale residency.  Irmgard Johnston was known to always think of her friends and associates, baking and otherwise concocting treats both spontaneous and seasonal.  She loved beaches and mountains but especially swims in seas, streams, lakes, and pools – regardless of whether warm or icy.  She is survived by Randy Johnston of Collinsville, Oklahoma in addition to her daughter Barbara Bunner (husband Thomas) of Woodinville, Washington and son Douglas Rischbieter (wife Janet) of Arnold, California, several American grandchildren, and German nieces and cousins.

The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.