Community remembers Caldwell-Johnson
Hundreds of mourners packed Plymouth Congregational Church to say goodbye to a Des Moines community “force” Wednesday.
They came to remember Teree Caldwell-Johnson, 68 as an advocate for Des Moines Public Schools, area children and families and the Oakridge community. She served for almost two decades as CEO at Oakridge Neighborhood and on the Des Moines School Board.
In 2023, Caldwell-Johnson announced she had been diagnosed with cancer. Last month, she resigned from the Des Moines School Board, where she has served since 2006, to focus on her health. Over an 18-year period, she served multiple times as school board chair and vice chair.
“We share in Teree’s family’s sadness over the loss of such a force for good and excellence in our community,” said Pamyla Stewart, St. Paul AME Church Des Moines, at the start of the service.
It was standing room only as lawmakers, past and present Des Moines School Board members, community leaders and others who were touched by Caldwell-Johnson’s work came together to celebrate her life with music and stories.
State Rep. Ako AbdulSamad spoke about the need to honor CaldwellJohnson. Abdul-Samad has long called her “the mayor” because “no matter where she went she made it better.”
“Teree’s legacy is left in each and every one of us,” Abdul-Samad said to applause. “What she did touched everyone in this church. It touched the babies in the schools and touched the neighbors in Oakridge.”
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts, who credits Caldwell-Johnson with bringing him to Iowa, spoke about how the long-time board member was a mentor to him in the short time they knew each other.
Caldwell-Johnson told the new superintendent about her diagnosis early on. He recounted how Caldwell-Johnson felt she could beat the disease in part because of her strong faith.
“I believed you then and I believe you now,” Roberts told those in attendance, “Teree, cancer did not win, God just needed one of his best to come home.”