Allen Johnson

Funeral Service for Allen Johnson, 94, of Wheaton, Minnesota will be held Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00 P.M. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wheaton, Minnesota with Rev. Thomas Olson officiating. Organist will be Marcy LeClair. Pallbearers will be David Rinke, Gary Timm, Kevin Johnson, Bob Ertsgaard, Clayton Hedman, Loren Burnett, Owen Lundquist and Allen Grohn. Honorary Pallbearers will be the Wheaton Lions Club and the VFW and American Legion. Interment will be in Wildwood Cemetery, Wheaton. Visitation will be held Tuesday, November 1st from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. at Ranney Funeral Home in Wheaton and continue one hour prior to service time at the church on Wednesday. The Ranney Funeral Home of Wheaton, Minnesota is in charge of arrangements. Allen Walton Johnson was born on July 19, 1917 in Lafayette, MN to Walter and Nora (Dannheim) Johnson. He attended elementary school in Lafayette through the eighth grade. He enjoyed farming with his Dad at their farm south of Lafayette. He was baptized and confirmed at First United Methodist Church in New Ulm. He moved with his parents to Wright, MN and worked as a farm laborer. He also worked for his uncle, Simon on a farm near Wheaton, which he enjoyed greatly. On March 12, 1941 he entered the U.S. Army and saw duty at Fort Sill, OK, Fort Francis E. Warren, WY and Fort Lewis, WA before being shipped overseas to the European Theater of Operations where he received a Purple Heart for his injuries. During his last furlough in the States he met Faye Leone Strandin in Bethel, MN, to where his family had moved. She wrote him every day until he returned to Bethel soon after his Oct. 4, 1945 discharge from the Army and they were married on Jan. 16, 1946 in Columbia Heights, MN. On April 3, 1947 their son, Dennis, was born. They lived in Wheaton, MN where Allen worked for the REA. They later lived in Bethel, MN, where he worked at the St. Paul Ford Plant and US Arsenal in New Brighton, and later in Rosholt SD, where they operated a grocery for Ernst Lindig. In 1952 they moved back to Bethel where Allen worked as lineman and manager of the telephone company. In 1959 they moved to Blooming Prairie; 1960 - to Wheaton; 1968 - back to Blooming Prairie working with the same telephone company and finally in 1976 they returned to Wheaton where Al had always wanted to retire. He retired in 1981. Allen and Faye loved to travel. Their first big trip was in 1959 and in the intervening years they traveled to every state west of the Mississippi and the deep South. They especially loved the mountains of Glacier Park. They made sure they visited Denny wherever he was stationed in the Navy, including the Philippines. The trip of a lifetime - they even experienced their first earthquake. Al loved to farm and helped his cousins, Richard and Robert Lundquist when he could; especially after his retirement. Al was extremely service-oriented. He loved being a Lion and was very active in the American Legion and VFW. He served as secretary, treasurer and president of the Senior Citizens organization and almost single-handedly kept the building addition from caving in during the 1997 snowstorm. He was also active at GA church and later Good Shepherd. Allen passed from this life on October 26, 2011 at the Traverse Care Center. Allen is survived by Faye, his wife of 65 years, and son Dennis (Linda) of Fergus Falls. He is also survived by a brother Kenneth (Jeanette) of Coon Rapids. Two grandchildren, Lana Faye Johnson of Southhampton, MA and Dean Dale Dewey of Holyoke, MA and two great-grandchildren, Dakota and Joshua and many nieces, nephews, as well as numerous adopted nieces, nephews and grandchildren He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Keith Johnson and sister Lois Johnson Heckenlaible. Blessed be the name of Allen Walton Johnson.