Acerca de

Born December 5, 1929, in Monson, MA, to parents Napoleon Paul and Mary Rose Brisard, Rosemary was a high school cheerleader and graduated from Monson Academy and attended American International College and Hartford Academy of Design. In the early 1970s, Rosemary and her late husband, Edmund J. Hughes II, moved to St. Petersburg to open an advertising agency, E. J. Hughes Company, where she would serve as his bookkeeper until he died in 1995.

​

Rosemary's contributions to the community of St. Petersburg were many, driven by her love of children and the performing arts. In the early 1980s while producing several shows like Gypsy, Anything Goes, Brigadoon at the St. Pete Little Theater (now St. Petersburg City Theater), she sat on the board of two (2) significant children's performing arts programs, Sunshine Kids in Production (SKIP) and Suncoast Theater Artists in Review (STAR). In 1982, Rosemary founded The Commercial Kids & Company, a children's music theater group that toured across Florida, performed annually at Walt Disney World, and featured at the Florida State Capitol Rotunda. In 1984, she founded the Florida Performing Arts Studio (FPAS), launching the newest community theater downtown, showcasing classics like Company, Three Penny Opera, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Carnival. This building served as a rehearsal space for the Commercial Kids & Co., where acting, dance, and voice classes were available to children of all ages. Rosemary also ran a theatrical summer camp, teaching kids how to audition for, produce, and put on Broadway-style musicals. The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce recognized the FPAS as Florida's best theatrical training facility.

​

In the late 1980s, Rosemary purchased and transformed the Golden Apple Dinner Theater on Central Avenue into The Encore Dinner Theater, adding professional productions of Chicago, My Fair Lady, Barnum, Annie, Dames At Sea, 42nd Street, Evita, and A Chorus Line to her "Executive Producer" resume.

 

​In October 1996, Rosemary found love again and married Jim Johnson, the consummate "snowbird," and convinced him that living in St. Pete full time was the best way to spend his retirement. Together, they bought a condo at the Bayfront Towers, where Jim resides today. Throughout the 1990s, Rosemary owned and operated a retail store called "Rosemary's Antiques and Collectibles," providing furnishings and decorating to the local community. She also served for several non-profit organizations and chaired numerous fundraising events for The Stuart Society (Museum of Fine Arts), The Heart Association, CASA, Bayfront Medical Center, All Children's Hospital, and the St. Petersburg Centennial Celebration. In 2010, Rosemary was awarded a key to the City of St. Pete by then-Mayor Rick Scott for her outstanding contributions to the community. She was an active St. Petersburg Yacht Club member, held several SPYC Women's Club board positions, and played bridge and mahjong weekly until 2015.

​

Rosemary's family includes her husband - Jim Johnson; daughter - Kim Hughes Ellis; stepdaughter – Traci Johnson (husband Alan Wrong); four stepsons – Scott Johnson (wife Kim), David Johnson, Ed Hughes III (wife Didi), Jeff Hughes; and her grandchildren – Jack Johnson, Kate "L" Johnson, Emily Wrong, Rebecca Reed (husband Zach), Jessica Higgins, Edmund Hughes IV (wife Kassandra), Bryan Hughes, Tyler Hughes (wife Hailey); and great-grandchildren – Zachary Reed II, Scarlet Reed, Nixon Hughes, and Ed Hughes V.