Jean Elizabeth "Tree" Johnson

Jean Elizabeth “Tree” Johnson, 84, died Nov. 15, 2019, with her family by her side, in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

A memorial Mass will be held at Saint Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church in Arch Cape, Oregon, Saturday at 11 a.m.

Tree was born on June 12, 1935, in San Francisco, California, to Madeline and Anthony Anselmo, vice president of the Restaurant and Bartenders Union. Her mother, Madeline, was a homemaker and accomplished seamstress.

As a child, Tree attended Holy Name Grade School, where she became devoted to the Catholic church, showering the statue of the Blessed Mother with rose petals. She went onto Lincoln High School, where she fell in love with the ocean and became a surfer and swimmer, dominating the pool at the Women’s Athletic Club of San Francisco.

Following a brief two-year stint in college, Tree married Robert Johnson and had two children, Kirsten and Matthew. She then created a revolutionary program for multiply handicapped children in Ross, California, changing the course of their lives.

In 1973, she moved to the sleepy beach town of Cannon Beach, Oregon. Here she purchased her first successful business, The Poodle Pad. Moving on, she pursued yet another career. She studied with Vidal Sassoon, becoming a precision hair cutter. She opened her own successful salon on Washington Street in Cannon Beach, called Hair Pruning by Tree. She had a huge following from the lower Columbia and beyond.

Retired at age 64, she directed her efforts in a new direction. She and her husband worked as SOLVE coordinators, responsible for annual Clatsop beach cleanups, and worked with thousands of volunteers.

Thanks to her work with oiled birds during the Santa Barbara oil spill in the 1960s, and the New Carissa oil spill in 1999, Tree was well equipped to work with birds and wildlife, becoming the original president of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast nonprofit organization. While working with Sharnelle Fee, she participated in the majority of surgeries, operating as the anesthesiologist and assistant to Sharnelle.

With a triage center in her home, she transported and released a variety of wildlife. She was honored by the Ecola Creek Awareness Project along with her husband, Edward, for their contributions to the watershed.

In later years, Tree studied religion, becoming a biblical scholar while attending a weekly ecumenical study group at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Seaside. As a dedicated Catholic and member of Saint Peter the Fisherman, she volunteered tirelessly for all aspects of the Sunday Masses, serving on the altar and creating glorious flower arrangements.

She was an avid seamstress and quilter, inspiring her grandchildren, among many others. Her final years were spent with her husband, Edward, daughter Kirsten, and son-in-law, Phillip, enjoying the ocean, forests and wildlife she loved so much.

Tree (Jean Elizabeth Johnson) is survived by her husband, Edward Johnson; daughter Kirsten Massebeau and her husband, Phillip Massebeau, of Cannon Beach, Oregon; son Matthew Johnson of Marin County, California; and stepchildren, Jennifer Nolfi and her husband, David Nolfi, of Portland, Oregon, Joshua Johnson and his wife, Melissa Johnson, of Tigard, Oregon, and Jake Johnson and his wife, Sarah Hayes, of Portland, Oregon; and nine grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast in Astoria, Oregon.