Mamie Lee Johnson Hardeman was born on September 1, 1917 to Austin Johnson, Jr. and Emma Mason Johnson in Lockhart, Texas, Caldwell County. Mamie received her formal education through the local school system. Mamie was a Charter Member of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and a Charter Member of the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Rev. Rufus Wilson. She was the Mother Of The Greater New Mt. Zion Baptist Church, under the leadership of Rev. Jesse T. Hardeman, Sr., her son, and now Rev. Tony Grant.