Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Kim Johnson, the runner-up of Survivor Africa and still the oldest woman to ever reach the finals of the long-running reality competition, died on July 23, her children said. She was 79.

Johnson, then 56 and a former elementary school teacher, was underrated during her time on the show and was seen mostly as a freeloader of eventual winner Ethan Zohn. But she won the final two immunity challenges to make it to the final vote, which was 5-2 against her.

"Our mother leaves behind a legacy of strength, resilience, kindness and generosity," her children's statement to Entertainment Weekly read. "She wore her rose-colored glasses to the end. She was the coolest mom and grandmother in the world. We will miss her forever…"