June 4, 2010

CHICAGO – Nicknamed "Mother Nature," 81-year-old Thelma "Tede" D. Johnson has been named the 2010 Volunteer of the Year by the American Association for Museum Volunteers, Washington, D.C. Johnson, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Newport News, Va., is the first recipient of what will be an annual award.

"I consider it an incredible honor to be the one chosen for this national award out of all the museums in the country," said Johnson, who volunteers at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News.

At the museum volunteers help introduce visitors to more than 250 live animals. Johnson said her favorite is to show animals from "the great horned owl down to the tarantula."

The museum's great horned owl is close to 30 years old, said Johnson. "In the wild, the great horned owl lives for about 15 years."

"I have a great respect for God's creation. That is the faith component of my work," said Johnson. "I have always been very in tune with nature and animals."

Volunteering at the museum has given Johnson a sense of purpose in life. "It helps me live up to my motto which is, ‘I want to die young as late in life as possible,'" she said.

Johnson was nicknamed "Mother Nature" by the children in her classroom. As an elementary school teacher in Jamestown, N.Y., Johnson began the school year by giving each child in her class a monarch caterpillar with milkweed in a quart-jar.

"The caterpillar would turn into a chrysalis and in 10 to 12 days would become a monarch butterfly. The children tagged their butterflies and released them," said Johnson. "Everyone in the school wanted to be in my classroom."

Johnson retired from teaching for health reasons. She moved to Newport News to be closer to her son. "For the first six months, I didn't do much of anything," she said.

"Then on a Sunday afternoon, I went to the museum with a friend and became enchanted with the museum," she said. "I visited with the museum director, who asked if I would like to become a volunteer. I said ‘yes,' and the next day the head of volunteer services contacted me."

Since then Johnson has logged in more than 12,000 volunteer hours in more than 22 years of service at the museum. She also helped create the museum's monarch butterfly exhibit.

"This is the perfect fit for me because of my love for nature and wildlife," said Johnson. "It literally got me on my feet again," she said. "I truly enjoy volunteering at the museum. It keeps me mentally alert and young at heart."

In addition to her volunteer work, Johnson is involved in Trinity Lutheran's Bible studies and Stephen Ministry. "We're trained to work with people in times of need. It's a very quiet ministry, but people get the help they need," she said.

Trinity is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

"Tede volunteered her time to take my family on an educational tour of the Virginia Living Museum," said the Rev. Cheryl Ann Griffin, associate pastor of Trinity.

"Her passion for God and for all of God's creation makes her an enthusiastic docent," said Griffin. "Tede also has a thirst for knowledge, and she is blessed with the gifts to share it. On the way home, we all commented that we would have loved to have been one of her students in elementary school. She is as wise as the owls she adores."

Information about Trinity Lutheran Church is at http://trinitylutheran-nn.org/, and the Virginia Living Museum at http://www.thevlm.org/, on the Web.

ELCA News Service