Barbara Piasecka Johnson, Polish heir to Johnson & Johnson fortune, dies at 76

WARSAW, Poland – The family of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, a Polish farmer’s daughter who worked as a maid for an American heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune before marrying him and eventually inheriting much of his wealth, says she has died. She was 76.

The family announced Johnson’s death Thursday in Rzeczpospolita, a daily paper. It said she died Monday “after a long and serious illness.” It didn’t give any further details about her illness or place of death but said that she will be buried April 15 in Wroclaw, the southwestern Polish city where she grew up.

Johnson became embroiled in a nasty feud over the Johnson & Johnson fortune after her husband, J. Seward Johnson Sr., died in 1983. She prevailed over his six children, getting much of the money.

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