Obituaries : Rima Khachatourian Johnson

Rima Khachatourian Johnson, 81, of Belle Plaine, Iowa, died on March 16, 2026. No obituary can capture the rich and complex story of her life. This is an attempt to give the barest sense of it:

Rima was born on November 26, 1944, in Tabriz, Iran, to Zabelle and Ashot Khachatourian. She was Armenian by heritage, raised in a diaspora that preserved its culture and traditions across generations. She spoke multiple languages from a young age — Armenian at home, alongside English and Farsi — and later earned her degree in English literature at the University of Tehran.

She came to the United States in 1967 and settled in Belle Plaine, where she would spend the next half century shaping the community she proudly called home. She pursued a second degree in elementary education from the University of Iowa, following in the footsteps of her mother, who ran a school of fine arts in Tehran.

For 29 years, Rima taught first grade. Generations of children learned to read in her classroom, but just as importantly, they learned to feel capable and seen. She also taught English as a second language to adults and worked with non-native speakers at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids. She believed deeply in public education as a cornerstone of democracy, a belief she carried into two decades of service on the Belle Plaine School Board after her retirement. She also spent time every week reading to kindergarteners, still drawn to the work that had defined so much of her life.

Her commitment to the community extended well beyond the classroom. Rima helped establish Belle Plaine’s PRIDE program, worked with parents and students on drug education, and organized the high school after-prom for more than a decade. She was an active member of Athena Club and PEO, volunteered through Mercy Medical Center, was trained in hospice and bereavement outreach, and gave her time to Meals on Wheels and the local nursing home. She also spent many years playing bridge with her bridge ladies (a game she relished and claimed, unconvincingly, that she was not very good at). In recent years, she could often be found at the Belle Plaine Library, reorganizing holiday displays with the precision of a department store and making sure everything had its place. 

Rima loved this country in the way only someone who chose it can. She marveled at the possibility of connection across difference, while remaining deeply proud of where she came from.

Rima made people feel loved. She was fiercely loyal and protective, building a wide circle of family that extended far beyond blood. She worried about everyone — whether you were going through something hard or driving home in bad weather — and rarely let those concerns rest. She made her home a place where people could not help but feel welcome and at ease. There was always Turkish coffee on the stove and, if you stayed long enough, a dirty martini not far behind. 

She delighted in Christmas with joyful intensity: the decorating, the music, the rituals, the sense that for a brief moment the world at its darkest could be made warm and generous and bright. Her home at Christmas time was less a house than a feeling, one she crafted expertly and shared freely.

Rima was also a famously devoted Iowa Hawkeyes fan who never missed a game, and held an enduring conviction that the referees, with few exceptions, needed to get their act together. 

She had a wry sense of humor and a willingness, especially later in life, to say exactly what she thought. And in the rare moment she held back, her face did all the talking. She would have made a terrible poker player. People loved her for it.

Rima was small in stature but her presence was immense: feisty, principled, gracious, kind. The weight of her absence is being felt across the community she helped shape and in the countless lives she influenced and inspired.

She is survived by a family who adored her: her sons, Armen and Derek, and their wives, Shelly and Tara; her sisters-in-law, Artemis, Silva, and Lara; her nephew, Martik; her niece, Nina and her husband, Shane; her grandchildren, Halle, Emily, Desmond, and Tobin, and Halle’s husband, Connor; her grandniece, Nyrie; and her great-grandchild, Layken. She was preceded in death by her parents, Zabelle and Ashot, and her brothers, Simon and Vahik.

A service will be held at 12:00 p.m. at Faith in Christ Church in Belle Plaine (708 15th Street), followed by a gathering at her home from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (1530 Rainbow Drive). She will be laid to rest in a private ceremony next to her mother in Cedar Rapids.

Flowers may be sent to the church, her home, or graveside through Blairstown Plant and Flower Emporium or Nettiannes Floral & Gifts. For those who wish to honor Rima’s memory, contributions may be made to the Belle Plaine Community Library in her name, or simply by doing what she did every day: showing up for someone and helping them know their worth.