Virginia Jean Johnson 1929 - 2019
JOHNSON, WHITE, HALE
Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/3/2019 at 13:20:10
Sioux City Journal
1 September 2019Onawa, Iowa
Virginia Jean Johnson, 90, of Onawa, passed away, in the company of family and friends, on Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, at Pleasant View Care Center in Whiting, Iowa.
Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Onawa United Methodist Church, with Pastor Linda Boggs officiating. Burial will follow in the Onawa Cemetery. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service.
Virginia Jean Johnson was born Feb. 7, 1929, near Hillsboro in Lee County, Iowa, to Henry "Hank" and LaVera (White) Hale. Her mother passed away when Virginia was just 4. In 1936, her father married Marjory Patience Widdifield and adopted her son, Dale (Santa Monica, Calif.), while Marjory adopted Virginia. Her sister, Linda (deceased, Burlington, Iowa), was born in 1943.
Virginia and Robert William Johnson were united in marriage on March 27, 1948, at her parents’ home in Onawa. They had three sons, William Hale and wife, Laurie of San Diego, Calif., Mark Robert and wife, Teresa of De Pere, Wis., and Timothy Lawrence and wife, Meribeth of Eagan, Minn. They raised their sons in rural Monona County and then in Sioux City, prior to returning to Onawa in 1970.
Virginia was a lifelong teacher who loved her students. She attended Wayne State Teachers College and after one year of formal education, began teaching at Castana, Iowa, in 1948. She taught in Ticonic, Iowa, and then at Parker and Walkers Island, S.D. From 1961 to 1972, she taught at Grant Elementary in Sioux City, while obtaining her BA degree from Morningside College. After a two-year sabbatical to care for her mother, Marjory, and father, Hank, she returned to Castana as a teacher and finished her teaching career at West Monona in Onawa.
Virginia (Ginny to family and friends) was an avid reader and earned the title “Treadmill Queen” at Burgess Cardiac Therapy, where she was a regular from 1995 to 2016. She loved traveling, spending time with family and friends, and sharing greetings through cards and letters. Virginia was a charter member of the Monona County Historical Society, helping found and operate the Loess Hills Historical Museum. She was a member of P.E.O, Eastern Star, the Onawa Women’s Club, and an active supporter of the Onawa Library. She was an active member of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Onawa and Blencoe, and joined the Onawa United Methodist Church when she could no longer attend church in Blencoe.
Survivors include grandsons, Billy, Randy, Ricky, Gary and Chris (Bill’s sons); Scott and Matthew (Mark’s sons); granddaughter, Celia (Tim’s daughter); great-grandchildren; loved nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Robert (1995); and sister, Linda.
Memorials are preferred and may be directed to the family, for later designation, according to Virginia’s wishes.
Monona Obituaries maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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