Gisela Maria Thea Johnson, age 81, of Mexico, Missouri, went to be with her savior on December 8, 2025 after a long battle with COPD in Mcloud, Oklahoma.  Gisela was born December 20, 1943 in Eisenach, Germany, to Liese-Lotte Elfriede Blum and Theodor Schimschok.

She was born during WWII in East Germany, times were hard.  She and her brother spent many years in a kinderheim.  At 14, she moved back home with her mother and sister where she worked long days in a factory.  She escaped East Germany at the age of 16 by making her way to Berlin and was granted permission to leave due to her age this was a requirement.  She moved to West Germany to start a new life.  She learned many trades in her life, she was a Renaissance Woman.   She learned an office clerk trade and met her first love, Agostino Padovan in Frankfurt, Germany at a dance hall.  They had three children, Agustino, Angelo and Kornelia.  While married to Agostino, she ran a restaurant and they lived right across the street.  When their marriage ended, she met an American Soldier and she fell in love with Charles Thomas Johnson III they had Robert.   In 1976, Charles' duty assignment was over in Germany, so he brought Gisela and all her kids to the US.  The United States became her new home.   She quickly immersed herself into American life.   She drove a school bus on the Ft. Riley Army Base not speaking English but loved driving the bus.  She worked at McCalls Pattern Factory in Junction City, Kansas, where she made lifelong friends.  When Charles retired, the family moved to Missouri.  Gisela received her cosmetology license in Mexico, Missouri, and took over Petite Beauty Salon in Martinsburg, MO and ran it for several years.  She worked at Quality Plastics in Mexico, MO. After her marriage with Charles ended, she obtained her CDL license and drove a Semi truck for Danny Herman Trucking.  She was adventurous to say the least. One of her happiest days was her swearing in as a United States Citizen in St Louis.  She was able to reconnect with her brother in person 1994 and through technology video chat with her sister. She had not seen them since she was 16.  She attended St John's Lutheran Church in Mexico prior to moving to Oklahoma.   She lived on Sunrise Meadow Lane for years and truly loved living there.  She was very talented as well, creating oil paintings and selling them. Her children display some proudly in their homes. She loved to dance the waltz and 2 step were her favorites.   She was proud of her accomplishments, her immigration to the US.  She was proud of her children and her grandchildren; she didn't express it often to them, but she sure did brag about them to others.  Gisela was headstrong to say the least and if you knew her you really understood this trait. If she set her mind to something, she would make sure she succeeded.   If she didn't like something, everyone knew about it.  Through all the storms, her children stood by her always and loved her well and loved her BIG.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Liese-Lotte and Theodor; and her former husband, Charles Thomas Johnson III.

She is survived by her brother, Reiner Schimschok, Germany; her sister, Christel Stephan and her husband, Wolfgang, Germany; her children, Agustino Padovan and wife, Marcia, Padovan (her grandson Jacob Breed ) of Manchester, Tennessee, Andy Padovan and (her grandson Ashton Padovan ) of Ashland, Missouri, Konny Styles and husband Randy Styles (her granddaughter Nicole Styles and grandson Justin Styles ) of Mcloud, Oklahoma, Bobby Johnson and his wife, Veena Mitchell, (her granddaughter Crystal Johnson and grandson Christian Johnson) of Richland, Missouri; along with her nieces, Gaby Pick (husband Harald Pick), Annette Botzum (husband Arne) of Germany, and great nieces, Vanessa Pick and Laura Botzum-Blödtner of Germany.

We are honored to have cared for her in her later years, not easy task but definitely gave us some stories for the future it was never a dull moment.  In faith we know our Heavenly Father wrapped his arms around her and called her home, no more pain and she is dancing in the sky.

Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 16, at East Lawn Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers:  please do random acts of kindness, leave a large tip in her honor, pay for someone's meal or groceries, she was a generous soul and would be smiling if this was done in her honor.