1937
Eldo
2014
Eldo Johnson
May 2, 1937 — March 20, 2014
Eldo Johnson, 76, Mandan, died March 20, 2014 at Vibra Hospital, Mandan.
Services will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at First Lutheran Church, Mandan, ND with Rev. Jack Carlson officiating. Burial will be the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery with Military Honors provided by the Mandan VFW Post #707 and American Legion Post #40.
Visitation will be held from 3:00-8:00 pm on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan with a Queen Esther Order of the Eastern Star and Masonic Rite services at 7:00 pm. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday.
Eldo was born on May 2, 1937 to Arvid and Myrna (Williams) Johnson in Bismarck. He attended Bismarck High School and went to college at Bismarck Junior College then finished his degree at Valley City State College in Valley City. He married Ora Jean (Pinky) Henderson in 1965 and from that marriage son Mark was born and Eldo adopted Curt and Tim. On July 3, 1999 he married Marilyn Guttromson in Wilton, ND.
After graduating from Valley City State College with a degree in Social Work and Geography, Eldo made work with people his life’s career. He had an easy and positive manner sprinkled with a good sense of humor. As a young man, Eldo worked as a meat cutter for Super Valu for several years. He started his career as a social worker for Morton County Social Services and later for the North Dakota Department of Human Services as a Quality Control Reviewer.
The man never met an organization he didn’t like. The organizations to which he belonged over the years included: Mandan Jaycees, Coin Club, Garden Club, Old Scouts Society, AA, Order of the Easter Star, Westerners, Mandan Historical Society, Former State Employees Union and the Mandan Masonic Lodge. Eldo was particularly proud of his more than twenty years of service in the North Dakota National Guard.
Eldo enjoyed hunting with his brother, son and nephew on family land. Mostly Eldo loved gardening and making time for coffee with the guys. He liked to go auctions- to the regret of his family, well mostly his wife. Watch for the First Annual Eldo Johnson Memorial Auction Sale coming this summer. As the life-long-grow anything gardener, Eldo developed close friendships in the soil with Bob Barr and Frank LaQua. During Eldo’s illness during the harvest of 2013 Frank helped Eldo can 119 quarts of tomato juice. Thanks, Frank.
Though retired, Eldo never really retired. He continued with part time work at Dean Moos’ North Star Auction and at the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Department. His appreciation of history came to life with his annual trips with friends to historical sites in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. He and Marilyn visited all the Presidential Libraries.
Eldo lived a full life, meaning he enjoyed the company of close friends and extended family, and his part in the world around him. We know he carries that innate joy into the next realm as a friend said, “Eldo was one of a kind. He really was one of a kind.”
Eldo will be deeply missed by his wife, Marilyn, Mandan; sons, Curtis (Dellilah), Mandan, Timothy ( Marva), Bismarck and Mark (Juli), Regan, ND; 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters; Liz (Jon) Johnson, Bismarck, Ben Johnson, Mandan, Tim Johnson, Mandan, Elliott Johnson, North Reading, MA, Dan Hammond, Bismarck, Merissa Johnson, Bismarck and Brandy Johnson, Fargo. 4 great-grandchildren with 1 more on the way; sisters, Mavis (Duane) Olsen, Mandan and Marie (Ralph) Carter, California and one brother, Archie of Bismarck. Eldo has 1 nephew and 5 nieces. Special to him were cousins, Tim Johnson of Arizona and Clifford Williams of Mandan and his last living uncle, Orville Speten, Wilton; his buddies, Frank LaQua, Frank’s son Nick, Bob Barr, John Beck, Jim Wiege, Vern Erickson and Leon and Larry Rustand.
So we come to the goodbye part of a life by remembering the delight Eldo gave us by being in our lives. We thank God for the gift of Mr. Eldo J.
Eldo was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Ora Jean; granddaughter, April Johnson and sister-in-law, Alice Johnson.
In Lieu of flowers the family request memorials to the Mandan Historical Society or the
Railroad Museum.
.
Services will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at First Lutheran Church, Mandan, ND with Rev. Jack Carlson officiating. Burial will be the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery with Military Honors provided by the Mandan VFW Post #707 and American Legion Post #40.
Visitation will be held from 3:00-8:00 pm on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan with a Queen Esther Order of the Eastern Star and Masonic Rite services at 7:00 pm. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday.
Eldo was born on May 2, 1937 to Arvid and Myrna (Williams) Johnson in Bismarck. He attended Bismarck High School and went to college at Bismarck Junior College then finished his degree at Valley City State College in Valley City. He married Ora Jean (Pinky) Henderson in 1965 and from that marriage son Mark was born and Eldo adopted Curt and Tim. On July 3, 1999 he married Marilyn Guttromson in Wilton, ND.
After graduating from Valley City State College with a degree in Social Work and Geography, Eldo made work with people his life’s career. He had an easy and positive manner sprinkled with a good sense of humor. As a young man, Eldo worked as a meat cutter for Super Valu for several years. He started his career as a social worker for Morton County Social Services and later for the North Dakota Department of Human Services as a Quality Control Reviewer.
The man never met an organization he didn’t like. The organizations to which he belonged over the years included: Mandan Jaycees, Coin Club, Garden Club, Old Scouts Society, AA, Order of the Easter Star, Westerners, Mandan Historical Society, Former State Employees Union and the Mandan Masonic Lodge. Eldo was particularly proud of his more than twenty years of service in the North Dakota National Guard.
Eldo enjoyed hunting with his brother, son and nephew on family land. Mostly Eldo loved gardening and making time for coffee with the guys. He liked to go auctions- to the regret of his family, well mostly his wife. Watch for the First Annual Eldo Johnson Memorial Auction Sale coming this summer. As the life-long-grow anything gardener, Eldo developed close friendships in the soil with Bob Barr and Frank LaQua. During Eldo’s illness during the harvest of 2013 Frank helped Eldo can 119 quarts of tomato juice. Thanks, Frank.
Though retired, Eldo never really retired. He continued with part time work at Dean Moos’ North Star Auction and at the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Department. His appreciation of history came to life with his annual trips with friends to historical sites in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. He and Marilyn visited all the Presidential Libraries.
Eldo lived a full life, meaning he enjoyed the company of close friends and extended family, and his part in the world around him. We know he carries that innate joy into the next realm as a friend said, “Eldo was one of a kind. He really was one of a kind.”
Eldo will be deeply missed by his wife, Marilyn, Mandan; sons, Curtis (Dellilah), Mandan, Timothy ( Marva), Bismarck and Mark (Juli), Regan, ND; 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters; Liz (Jon) Johnson, Bismarck, Ben Johnson, Mandan, Tim Johnson, Mandan, Elliott Johnson, North Reading, MA, Dan Hammond, Bismarck, Merissa Johnson, Bismarck and Brandy Johnson, Fargo. 4 great-grandchildren with 1 more on the way; sisters, Mavis (Duane) Olsen, Mandan and Marie (Ralph) Carter, California and one brother, Archie of Bismarck. Eldo has 1 nephew and 5 nieces. Special to him were cousins, Tim Johnson of Arizona and Clifford Williams of Mandan and his last living uncle, Orville Speten, Wilton; his buddies, Frank LaQua, Frank’s son Nick, Bob Barr, John Beck, Jim Wiege, Vern Erickson and Leon and Larry Rustand.
So we come to the goodbye part of a life by remembering the delight Eldo gave us by being in our lives. We thank God for the gift of Mr. Eldo J.
Eldo was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Ora Jean; granddaughter, April Johnson and sister-in-law, Alice Johnson.
In Lieu of flowers the family request memorials to the Mandan Historical Society or the
Railroad Museum.
.
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