Mrs. ROBERT T. (Mabel Leyse) JOHNSON 1909-2003

SWAIN, LEYSE, JOHNSON, POTEMPA, BURGESS, LECLERE

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/12/2005 at 16:52:14

Mrs. ROBERT T. (Mabel Leyse) JOHNSON

Mabel Johnson, 94, of Waukon, died Friday, December 12, 2003, at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon, following a lengthy illness. Funeral services were held Sunday, December 14 at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon, with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. Martin Funeral Home in Waukon was in charge of arrangements.

Mabel Leyse Johnson was born June 4, 1909, on the rural Waterville, Iowa, farm of her parents, Edward G. and Johanna Swain (Johnson) Leyse. She was baptized and confirmed at the Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church and attended Waterville Schools. After schooling, she did some housekeeping and helped on several neighboring farms.

On October 21, 1933 she was married to Robert T. Johnson at the Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Parsonage by Rev. A. P. Lea.

Mabel and Bob farmed in Jefferson Township for many years. Mabel enjoyed the rural life and was active with the milking, naming all the cows, working some in the field, and raising chickens. She remained on the farm for several years following Bob's death in 1994 before she moved to Waukon.

Mabel was an active member at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church, where she participated in Ladies Aid and enjoyed working the meatball supper and other church events as well as quilting for various projects. She was an excellent cook and baker, turning out wonderful family suppers as well as lunches for workers from her summer kitchen on the farm. She was an accomplished seamstress and made many of her own clothes. She also liked to garden and raise flowers, play euchre, and loved to spend time visiting with family and friends.

Survivors include a niece, Mary (Bob) Potempa of Las Vegas, Nev., and a nephew, Donald (Shirley) Leyse of Cedar Rapids. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Robert; a brother, Helmer Leyse; and two sisters, Genette Burgess and Ethel LeClere.

Casketbearers were Bob Potempa, Dean Thorstenson, Dan Straate, Don Thies, and Robert and Richard Kolsrud.

©Waukon Standard 2003
source: Waukon Standard, Waukon, Allamakee Co. IA, 12/17/2003