Cheryl [McCartney] Johnston, 73 of Amherst died March 17, 2021 at the Fisher Home hospice center in Amherst. She was born in Northampton, MA May 8, 1947 to Robert J. McCarntey and Norma [Handforth] McCartney. For thirty-two years she was a social studies teacher in the Amherst schools, retiring in 2008. She is survived by her sons Ian Johnston of Lexington, KY and Alex Johnston of New Haven, CT, and her grandsons Henry, Hugh and Charles Johnston, her sisters Lauren Cusick of Lancaster, PA, and Jean Lukens of Leverett, and her brother James McCartney of Cambridge as well as numerous nieces and a nephew. Burial services will be private. Williamsburg Funeral Home was entrusted with her cremation. www.HampshireCremation.com
Ms Johnston taught me world history and AP European history, and was my favorite teacher. I saw some of the art we studied and wrote to her from Rome when I was in college with a postcard of one of the sculptures I saw there that we had discussed in class long ago. I graduated in 2001. I think of her now and then with a smile on my face. Just wanted to give a toast to a remarkable teacher and woman!
Ms. Johnston was my social studies teacher junior year for AP European history. The morning of September 11th, 2001 I was excused from my photography class to meet with her to go over feedback she has given me on a draft of a paper. While we were conferencing another social studies teacher came into her room and told us a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Memory is notoriously unreliable, but I believe she commented to her colleague, in front of me, “If this is Afghanistan, I fear we’re going to war.” If this memory is to be believed, she was more informed about geopolitics than 99.9% of Americans at that time.
I have many much more happy memories…