Sheila Warfield Johnson died on March 9 at home in Stamford, Conn. after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 79.

She was born in New York City on December 2, 1943 to Eleanor and Collister Johnson. Her maternal grandfather, Malcolm Muir, was president of McGraw-Hill Publishing Company and created Business Week magazine in 1929. He also served as editor in chief, publisher and chairman of the board at Newsweek magazine.

In Far Hills, N.J., rarely a day went by in the Johnson household without a song. Sheila’s father Coddy was a singer with The Whiffenpoofs at Yale and often gathered with his brothers who lived nearby to make music.

Sheila attended Ms. Porter’s School and Smith College. She majored in French literature, studied abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris during her junior year and was a member of the Smith Octavians singing group. After graduating in 1965, she worked at Life magazine where she spent seven years as a member of the editorial staff.

She was a soprano with a bell-like tone and a natural gift for performing. While raising her family in Princeton, N.J. she helped found the Boudinotes, a female a cappella group that held shows locally and traveled together to perform for over a decade.

She also worked as a research assistant to William Bundy, a foreign affairs advisor to presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson. At the time, Mr. Bundy was writing A Tangled Web, a book on Nixon foreign policy.

After her second marriage ended she moved to Hopewell, N.J. and joined the co-ed singing group Jersey Transit. She vigorously pursued a passion for gardening, thanks in part to the influence of her beloved mother Ell who held roles in the Garden Club of America and was known to encourage strict use of Latin botanical names. In 1996, she became a New Jersey master gardener and attended New York University’s Rusk School to study horticultural therapy.

In 2007, Sheila married Harry Wise, whom she described as the love of her life. After a few years in Manhattan, the couple moved to Stamford, Conn. where they enjoyed a life filled with music; Sheila on vocals and Harry on the piano. She sang with the Grace Notes in Greenwich and joined the choir at St. Luke’s church in Darien. Sadly, Harry passed away in 2014. Sheila remained in Stamford, living near her children.

In recent years, she traveled to Paris to serve as a judge for several rose competitions and took trips to Europe with friends, as well as with her children and grandchildren.

She continued to enjoy a cherished family tradition of gathering on Martha’s Vineyard each summer, where her parents, siblings and cousins had spent time since the 1960s.

Sheila’s determination at the end of her life was inspirational. She never openly complained as she pushed through life-prolonging treatments to gain more time with friends and family. Last summer she enjoyed one last swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

Her lyrical spirit, strength and joie de vivre will be ever-present in her family’s hearts.

She is survived by her son Eben MacNeille, daughter Alisa MacNeille Kuhn, four grandchildren, her sister Lee Auchincloss and her brother Collister Johnson Jr.