Sheila Johnston Bauer
Sheila Johnston Bauer was gathered to her people and to her Creator on October 3, 2022.
This Dallas girl was born on May 30, 1928, at Baylor Hospital and went home with her parents, Thomas Kilpatrick and Evelyn Smith Johnston, to a big sister, Muriel, and two brothers, Arnold (Buddy) and David.
Sheila was admitted to the Cradle Roll of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas and confirmed there as a child. In 1976, she reaffirmed her saving faith in Jesus Christ when she was baptized at Reinhardt Bible Church.
Her parents came to Dallas from Dundee, Scotland–first her father in 1913, then after serving as a US soldier in WWI, he returned to Dundee, married Evelyn, and brought her to the US on a troop ship in 1919. The Johnston family’s Scottish heritage, family, and friends would define much of Sheila’s life with high teas every Sunday afternoon at the family’s home on Lakewood Boulevard, pilgrimages back to Dundee, and an appreciation for tartan, shortbread, and bagpipes. In addition, Sheila held sweet memories of a carefree childhood – bicycle trips for picnics at White Rock Lake, sodas at Harrell’s drugstore, a band of neighborhood friends, and summers working at Dallas Medical and Surgical Clinic on Live Oak Street.
Her education began with Kindergarten at James W. Fannin Elementary School on Ross Avenue, then William Lipscomb Elementary School, J. L. Long Middle School, and Woodrow Wilson High School–graduating in 1946. In 1950 she received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University, which she utilized working for Texas Instruments and American Airlines. She met fellow employee J Fred Bauer in the ticketing office at Love Field, and they married in 1952.
Two daughters were born to them in Dallas, and a son and daughter after they moved to Houston. During those years, she was a stay-at-home mom–baking cookies for brownie troops, carpooling, keeping house and a household budget, hosting bridge luncheons and dinner parties, and reaching out to neighbors and friends.
The family moved back to Dallas in 1967 and built a home in East Dallas. After the couple divorced in 1973, Sheila returned to business administration work–first at Merchants Greeters Service; then with various garment manufacturers: Creative Image, Herman Marcus Inc., Donovan-Galvani of Dallas, and Southwestern Apparel Inc.; and finally for the publisher of Park Cities People.
In 1981, she and her daughter, Mary Vera, purchased The Karat Top at the Olla Podrida, and she immersed herself in buying and selling antique and vintage jewelry through the summer of 2022.
As a single mother, she made her children her priority and taught them to follow Jesus and to treat everyone with kindness and respect. Intelligent, proper, courageous, and stalwart describe her well. She was never vain, but she was a striking woman at almost six feet tall.
She is survived by her children, Sheila Lynne Brandon, Mary Alice Vera, John Fredrick Bauer and wife Lisa, and Evelyn Frances Bauer Wolff and husband Win; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Her life was celebrated at a private family graveside service at Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park, where her family members are all interred at the Mausoleum. Memorial contributions may be sent to Scottish Rite for Children https://scottishriteforchildren.org/.
