Maid Who Married Multimillionaire Passes Away
In 1968, Barbara came to New York from Poland with $200 in her pocket. Through connections, , Esther Underwood Johnson, the second wife of J. Seward Johnson Sr., the heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, hired her as a cook. Since Barbara did not end up being an impressive cook, her duties shifted more to maid duties in the house.
In 1969, Barbara left the estate to take art classes at New York University and Mr. Johnson put her up in a Manhattan apartment. He later moved in with her and in 1971, Mr. Johnson divorced Esther so he could marry Barbara. He was 76 when the pair married and Barbara was 34. They did not invite any of Mr. Johnson’s six children to the wedding.
When Mr. Johnson died in 1983, to the exclusion of all but one of his children, he bequeathed almost all of his holdings to Barbara. These holdings were reported to be worth almost $500 million.
Mr. Johnson had not left his children destitute, however; all of them were millionaires because their father had set up trusts for them. The children still challenged the will, claiming that Barbara had exerted undue influence on their father when he made the will. This led to a three-year legal battle with bills totaling over $24 million.
Shortly before the case went to the jury, it was settled. Barbara kept more than $300 million of the estate, the children received over $40 million in total, and Harbor Branch, an oceanographic institute Mr. Johnson founded was awarded $20 million.
After the trial, Barbara lived for many years in Monaco, and she never married again. The New York Times indicates that Mrs. Johnson used her wealth to collect art and support charitable causes, particularly those in Poland.
See Bruce Weber, Barbara Piasecka Johnson, Maid Who Married Multimillionaire, Dies at 76, The New York Times, Apr. 3, 2013.