Johnson lived in Moraine until the age of 11 when she and her three siblings moved with her mother, Geneva Bowman, to Union.
“My father ran an Ashland station in New Lebanon and that’s where I met Miles,” said Johnson, who was at her father’s gas station with some cousins from New Lebanon when she first met her husband of 37 years. “When I was 15, I told my cousin, ‘I think, I’m going to marry that guy.’” The couple later married and moved to Belmont where Johnson became a stay-at-home mom, while Miles managed a SOHIO station in Kettering at a site now occupied by a Speedy Muffler business.
In 1979, Miles worked as a general contractor for a friend for one year, before striking out on his own with MW Johnson General Contractor.
The couple’s children, Melissa and Michael, graduated from Fairmont High School in Kettering where the family had resettled. Melissa went on to study at the Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology where she graduated as a medical assistant. She currently lives in Centerville with her husband, John Kozee, and their two children, Alyssa, 10 and Jordyn, 5. John Kozee works in the computer field for Bowser-Morner Inc., while Melissa Kozee is the practice manager for the PriMed Physicians Patterson Woods Family Practice.
Michael graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Communications before taking a position in Information Technology for Logicalis, of Cincinnati. He and his wife, Wendy, who works at LexisNexis, live in Miamisburg with their three children, Alexa, 15, Billy, 13, and Kenden, 6.
“Once the kids were in middle school, I started working in retail for J.C. Penney and then Elder Beerman,” said Johnson, who earned an associate degree in business from Sinclair Community College.
“She started as a sales clerk and ended up as the personnel manager,” said Miles Johnson of his wife who currently works with him in the couple’s Kettering business, Kitchens By Design.
Kitchens By Design has three designers who visit clients’ homes and then utilize a 20/20 CAD Design System to design the kitchens. The owners are proud that many of their clientele come to them from referrals and feel it is because of the comprehensive service they offer.
“What’s unique about us is that we take care of everything from the ceiling to the floor,” said Miles. “We do everything including the electrical work and plumbing.”
Cathy Johnson enjoys gardening in her spare time — a hobby she learned from her mother’s former GM co-worker and friend, Mable Leyes, of Washington Twp. With Leyes encouragement, Johnson became a member of the Washington Twp. Visual Improvement Program and recently completed master gardener classes offered through the Montgomery County Ohio State University Extensive Service (224-9654).
For more information about Kitchens By Design, visit www.mykbd.com.
Contact this reporter at (937) 432-9054 or jjbaer@aol.com.
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