Jill Johnson ’84

Alumni Spotlight

BE T H L E H E M A C A D E M Y

“If this is someone’s only personal contact with America, I want it to be a positive one.”

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Half a world away, BA alum strives to make a positive impression...Class of ’84 BA alumnae Jill Johnson has definitely spread her wings since graduation.

After graduation, Jill eagerly went off to Notre Dame. She graduated in 1988 and went on to Columbia Uni-versity to obtain a Master in Educa-tion in 1989.

It was at Notre Dame where Jill met her husband Naji Boutros. She and Naji were both dorm managers and were introduced through a mutual friend. They were married in 1990 and moved to London where Naji pursued a career as an investment analyst. It was there that Jill gave birth to three of their children: Philippe, Hannah and Lauren.

In 1998 Jill and Naji visited his an-cestral village in Lebanon. Seeing the devastation that had occurred during the war in Lebanon, Naji and Jill were heartbroken and decided to move to Lebanon to rebuild the fam-ily’s ransacked vineyard. Chateau Belle-Vue was born, as well as their fourth child Ella. This was not as ro-mantic as it might all seem. At times it became very dangerous. One of the pieces of property that needed to be replanted had four cluster bombs on it. The workers refused to keep planting (rightly so), but Naji knew that the vines could not wait, and he pressed forward planting the vines by himself. Jill says that the evidence of cluster bombs is everywhere. Many children and young people are seen begging on the streets with missing limbs. There have been many UN resolutions which condemn their use, but as recently as 2006 they were dropped across southern Lebanon by the Israeli army.

If being a busy mom of four children in a foreign country and trying to get a winery on it’s feet wasn’t enough, Jill found time to co-publish a book with two other women. It is titled Lebanon A to Z: A Middle Eastern Mosaic. It is a wonderfully illus-trated book that explores the heritage, culture and people of this small, yet important, Mediterranean country, a gateway to the Arab world. If you wish to see more about this book you can go to www. lebanonatoz.com.

In 2007 Naji and Jill were rewarded; the fruits of their labor won them a Gold-Best in Class distinction in a London wine show. They have worked hard to have their wine shipped abroad. It is now even offered in the Cheese Cave store in downtown Faribault. Their least expensive wines run about $25 a bottle. The most expensive wines they sell are bottled as magnums (1.5 liters) and sell for about $100.

When asked if she is ever fearful about living in Lebanon, Jill’s re-sponse was no. Personal safety is much less of a concern in Lebanon than when she lived in New York City or even in London for that matter. “Violent crime against an individual is a rarity. However, they do have some political situations which can intensify suddenly to cause concern, but if it’s ever NOT a good thing for us to be here, we can leave. Our family is lucky to have many options. Road safety is a different matter, however. There is no driving eti-quette here.” She often thinks that

the locals get behind the wheel and try to mimic Mario Andretti.

Jill feels that raising her family abroad has been extremely beneficial to them. Both she and Naji feel that their children have been exposed to many valuable life-styles and cultures. They speak with equal respect to both the immigrant housekeeping staff coming from very

poor backgrounds who have made the impossible choice to leave their young children behind to support a family, as well as to the many ambassadors and people of power with whom they frequently mix. “Tolerance, respect and a genuine appreciation for our many blessings are part of daily life in our home.”

Spending time in Minnesota with Jill’s family is a high priority as well. They come to Faribault every sum-mer and every other Christmas, with Jill observing, “My kids are firmly grounded in both of their homes.’’

When Jill was asked about her fondest BA memory, she recalled a feeling of “family” inside the walls of Bethlehem Academy. Many of her classmates felt much like siblings to her inside the small class settings. She thinks back on playing sports at BA (volleyball and golf) and three months of torture every winter: BAS-KETBALL! And there was Mrs. West-phal’s typing class–which still serves her well: A-S-D-F-J-K-L-;. “How did Mrs. Westphal not go crazy repeat-ing those letters a million times!”

Half a world away, BA alum strives to make a positive impression...

And what was it that Jill was able to take away from her time at BA? Jill felt that decency, with a very strong culture of fair play, service and respect, were so valuable. “Liv-ing in various places in the world is a constant reminder that this is not necessarily the norm for many people. Self-interest is much more common, especially when coupled with a strong survival instinct. I always remind myself, living here in a third world country, that–unlike many–I never struggled for education or proper health care for myself or my children. Coming from a com-paratively privileged background, my basic needs have been met on all counts. Therefore, I try very hard not to be judgmental.”

But when I interact with people us-ing my value system, learned within my family, as well as at BA and at Notre Dame, I feel I’m representing not only myself, but my country and my culture. If this is someone’s only personal contact with America, I want it to be a positive one.”

We at BA wish Jill , Naji and their family all the best as they continue to work hard to bring Chateau Belle-Vue into it’s next phase, and look forward to “that other book” that Jill feels is still in her and waiting to be written. Keep up the good work, Jill!

Want to learn more about Naji and Jill’s winery? Go to www. chateaubelle-vue.com

We share a common thread... That is BA. We want to share many stories of our alums and the paths that life is taking them. If you feel you

know of someone who has an interesting story to tell, please contact us at

advancement@bacards.org.