JOHANSEN, Andy (1942-2022)

JOHANSEN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/29/2023 at 16:48:03

Andy Johansen
(August 8, 1942 - December 12, 2022)

Ray Andrew “Andy” Johansen, of Indianola, passed away peacefully on December 12, 2022 at the age of 80 at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa surrounded by his family. A memorial funeral service will be held Sunday, December 18th at 3:00 p.m. at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola, Iowa. The family will greet friends from 1 to 3 p.m. prior to services.
Andy was born August 8, 1942 in Hampton, Iowa to Ray and Billie Johansen. He attended school in Latimer Iowa at CAL Community until moving to Indianola in December of his sophomore year of high school. After graduation, he started working for Firestone Tire & Rubber. He was employed there for 33 years. After early retirement from Firestone, he was asked to come to work for the Indianola Community School District as a custodian. He worked there for 10 years, and loved interacting with all the teachers and students.
He is survived by his wife Judy, of 59 years, daughters, Kristin (Tom) Johnson and Lori (Kevin) Hamilton; his grandchildren, Alex Johnson, Cassidy (Tyler) Graham, and Gracie Hamilton; great-granddaughter, Georgia Graham; sister, Pam Benson; brother, Greg (Ceily) Johansen; brother-in-law, Clark Kellogg; many nieces, nephews, great friends, and shooting buddies. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Billie Johansen; sister, Mary Lou Kellogg; in-laws, Clista and Floyd Murphy; brother-in-law, Rick Benson; Judy’s siblings, Jim and Nellie Murphy; Martha and Dale Hicks; ; Betty and Carl Forbes; Ruby and Arliss Boothe; niece and nephew, Linda and Denny.
Andy fell for his high school sweetheart, Judy Murphy, in 1958. They dated until 1963 when they were married. They were blessed with two daughters, Kristin and Lori. Andy was a kind-hearted, hard-working father and husband. When the girls married, some of his happiest moments were the births of his 3 grandchildren: Alex and Cassidy to Kristin and husband Tom, and Gracie to Lori and husband Kevin. One of his most recent moments of joy was being blessed with a great-granddaughter, 16-month-old Georgia Rae, born to Cassidy and husband Tyler. Conveniently, Cassidy and Tyler bought a house three doors down the street allowing them to spend a lot of time with Andy, helping him with yard work and bringing Georgia over to eat and play. He enjoyed having his good buddy Alex over for lunch most days of the week, they spent hours on end playing hundreds of games of cribbage. He once was even lucky enough to be dealt the perfect hand by Al (a 1 in 216,580 chance!). He spent a lot of time fishing and whittling with Gracie, and was able to introduce her to one of his greatest passions: trap shooting. His heart swelled with pride at all her accomplishments. His family was his shining glory. He became an avid bird hunter at the age of 14, and continued for many years beyond until his body slowed him down. He owned and rode Harley Davidson motorcycles, his prized possessions. He also enjoyed years of trap shooting. He had so many great hunting and trap excursions, and many over-the-road Harley trips. Through those years, he also coached his two daughters’ recreational softball teams. He and his wife Judy and the girls spent many vacations in Branson and enjoyed camping as a family. One fun time in his life was when he and some fellow workers were out on strike from Firestone and took part-time work with the filming of Bridges of Madison County in Winterset. They were extras doing walk-ons and drive-throughs in many scenes and also visited with Clint Eastwood over several lunch breaks. Andy especially loved getting to drive the cars from the 50’s. The past three years, although health issues and the pandemic curtailed his activities, Andy spent a good part of his days sitting in his lawn chair visiting with neighbors and friends. Several neighborhood lady dog-walkers would bring their pets to see him and chat for a while. One of his favorite buddies was four-year-old neighbor Ava! She would come over all the time with her parents, Josh and Cait, to visit and eat snacks with him. He loved them like family. Andy was a good man, husband, dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather. His family and great friends sustained him. He loved life and fought hard to stay, but the struggle became too great.
Memorials may be given in his name to the Warren County Izaak Walton League or the Mighty Maddie Foundation. [This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/]