Dale Leroy Johnson (2007)

JOHNSON, JENSEN, JOHNSON-SCRANTON, TEACHOUT

Posted By: Mary Welty Hart (email)
Date: 7/26/2007 at 17:11:03

Winterset Madisonian, Winterset, Iowa
July 25, 2007

DALE JOHNSON, Earlham

Dale Leroy Johnson, 57, of Earlham died July 17, 2007, near Iowa Falls.

Funeral services were held Friday, July 20, at Peace Lutheran Church in rural Earlham with Pastor Bill Bernau officiating. Burial was at Fontanelle Cemetery.

Dale Johnson was born July 24, 1949, in Audubon County to Earl and Bertha (Jensen) Johnson. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Exira. At the age of 10, he moved with his family to a farm north of Fontanelle. He was confirmed at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fontanelle and graduated from Bridgewater-Fontanelle High School with the class of 1967. He continued his education at Iowa Western Community College in Clarinda and Iowa State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in ag journalism. His marriage to Sandra Queck took place Jan. 26, 1970, at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fontanelle. Dale began his journalism career at the Grand Island Independent in Grand Island, Neb. In 1974, he joined the staff of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman as a writer. In 1987, he was named director of publications and managing editor of the Spokesman, where he was instrumental in starting Family Living Magazine. He currently was the Iowa Farm Bureau’s news services manager of marketing and communications, as well as editor of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman, Family Living Magazine and Producers Livestock Marketing News. Throughout his career, he earned numerous writing awards — including those from the International Association of Business Communicators and the nationwide American Farm Bureau Information Awards competition, as well as the 1983 American Soybean Association print writer of the year and the Inland Daily Press Association Award for government reporting. Dale traveled worldwide to study and report on the state of agriculture and promote Iowa agricultural products with trips to China, Mexico, Brazil and, most recently, Morocco. He held several leadership positions in the Iowa chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, including president and chairman of the board of directors. In 2005, he was awarded the President’s Award in honor of his accomplishments and efforts to establish the IABC Iowa Chapter. Dale was a charter member of Peace Lutheran Church, where he served on the church council as treasurer and was currently its chairman. He also was a past chairman of the Earlham Athletic Booster Club and a member of the Des Moines Orthopedic Surgeons Biking Club.

He was preceded in death by his father, Earl Johnson.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra, of Earlham; one son, Brad Johnson of West Des Moines; one daughter, Melissa Johnson-Scranton of Oakland, Calif.; his mother, Bertha Johnson of Fontanelle; three brothers, Dennis Johnson of Fontanelle, Randy Johnson of Clive, and Craig Johnson of Glenwood; a sister, Jana Teachout of Clive; and two granddaughters.

Funeral arrangements were handled by Steen Funeral Homes of Greenfield-Fontanelle-Massena.