Rita Stout Johnson

Loving mother and friend, Rita “Cookie “ Stout Johnson passed peacefully at the age of 92 on July 10th at the Hospice House of Bowling Green, KY. She will be greatly missed by all.

Born in Louisville, KY on July 19th, 1933 to the late Edward B. Stout Jr. and Beatrice Broome Stout, Cookie spent her childhood in Louisville and West Hartford, CT. She graduated from the Oxford Academy in Westbrook, CT and Vanderbilt University. She taught kindergarten in Hartford, CT and later sixth grade in Fort Knox, KY. She married Dr. James Powel Johnson in 1957. They had two daughters; Susan Johnson Rodgers and Sharon Johnson Carruthers. In 1963 Jim, Cookie, Susan and Sharon moved to Southampton, NY where they lived until 2000. In Southampton, Cookie was socially active in the Meadow Club and The Bathing Corporation, a member of the First Presbyterian Church’s ladies circle, a troupe leader for Brownies and Girl Scouts, and was a representative for the Carlisle Collection line of women’s clothing.

Starting in 2001, Cookie and Jim became “snow birds” dividing their time between Naples, FL and Bowling Green, KY. While in Naples, Cookie was an active member of the Ikebana Floral Group and a member of the Colonial Dames Society.

After Jim passed in 2014, she permanently moved to Bowling Green where she was an avid bridge player and a member of the First Presbyterian Church. She enjoyed membership in the Bowling Green and Olde Stone Country Clubs. In 2015, she moved to The Village Manor where she stayed until moving to Arcadia in 2025.

Cookie is survived by her two daughters, Susan Rodgers (Bruce) and Sharon Carruthers (Tom), three grandchildren; Kathryn Rodgers (Nick Ryan), Allison Rodgers, Dean Carruthers (Eleri), and great grandchildren Axel and Juniper.

A Celebration of Life service for Cookie and Jim will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green or the Hospice House of Bowling Green.

Arrangements were entrusted to Hardy & Son Funeral Home, Bowling Green Chapel.