Carol Johnson 81, of Franklin, IN, passed away peacefully with her loving family by her side on Tuesday November 4, 2025.
First & foremost, Carol was a special person with a wonderful faith and belief in our Lord and God. She was a loving daughter, sister, wife, and mother. She was born in Indianapolis, IN on March 5, 1944, to Carl Henry George and Juanita Frances Gerdt. She went to high school in Southport, IN, and after high school she married Thomas Lowell Johnson and went to work for the power and light company. After a few years she followed her husband and started her career with the Indianapolis Police Department, rising to the rank of sergeant before retiring after 20 years of service.
She was the perfect, compassionate, and loving mother of three sons, Thomas, Bryan, and David. She did everything for her sons and made sure they were raised with love and the proper amount of discipline. She was a great friend and wife to Thomas, until his passing in 2017 marking 53 wonderful years of marriage. She had two brothers, Carl Gerdt and Gary Bates and one sister, Peggy Patton, and two sisters-in-law Terry Gerdt and Alice Bates. She loved her brothers and sisters deeply and was always in contact with them.
Carol loved horses, getting her first horse "Mr. Ed" at a very young age. After her retirement her path moved her and the family to a farm in Franklin, IN where she was able to relive her passion for horses by getting three Arabian horses that she loved. She was passionate about all animals and loved her pets and wildlife as family. She enjoyed playing bingo and other games with her great friend Rena Rackemann and loved playing video poker and slot machines.
She loved hiking at the family cabin in Brown County and hunting mushrooms every spring. She loved plants, crafts, and especially painting. She has a great number of paintings hanging around the farmhouse that are beautiful works of art with great detail, she painted with such skill and passion. She had a very artistic creative side that enabled her to create works that you could feel the passion and love in.
With everything considered, she lived a very full, passionate, exciting, loving, adventures, life full of family and many friends that loved her very much and who she loved.
"Mom is going to be deeply missed by all of her family and friends while at the same time she has strengthened my faith so much during this time and I hope the same for my brothers, friends, and family. I am confident that she is now reunited with her husband, parents, brother and our Lord and she is not just in a better place, she is in the very Best Place, Heaven."