Ralph "Rod" Johnson 1947 - 2014

JOHNSON, MCGREGOR, LINN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/3/2014 at 11:34:02

Sioux City Journal
17 October 2014

MOVILLE, Iowa | Ralph "Rod" Johnson, 67, of Moville passed away Tuesday morning, Oct. 14, 2014, at his residence.

Services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. The Rev. Richard Ries will officiate. Burial will be in Silver Township Cemetery, rural Quimby, Iowa, with military rites conducted by the V.F.W. L.A. Wescott Post 2253. Visitation will be 2 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 5 to 7 p.m., at the funeral home. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.

Ralph was born on April 3, 1947, in Storm Lake, Iowa, to Ralph O. and Annabell (McGregor) Johnson. He graduated in 1965 from Marysville High School in Kansas. He went to Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa, for a year and then in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, for a year. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving during the Vietnam War, being discharged as a sergeant in March 1971. He then attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, graduating with a business degree. While in college, he worked at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute.

He was married to Dianna Linn on March 31, 1973, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Ralph worked for the Internal Revenue Service. He worked out of the Des Moines office for five years and then the Sioux City office as a collection manager from 1980 until his retirement in January 2007. He and Dianna had lived in Moville the past 34 years.

He was affiliated with the Lutheran church. Ralph was a life member of the D.A.V., Marine Corps League, V.F.W Post 1973 in Sioux City and was a past state commander of the V.F.W. He was a life member of the American Legion, the N.R.A., and was a Green Bay Packer shareholder. He enjoyed reading, collecting Green Bay Packer memorabilia, traveling and his English Bulldogs.

He is survived by his wife, Dianna of Moville; his son, Jason Johnson and special friend of the family, Lisa Cole of Moville; two sisters, Reggie Kelley of Aurelia, Iowa, and her special friend Greg Simon of Estherville, Iowa, and Robin Salmen and her husband, Bill of Niobrara, Neb.; and nieces and nephews, Amanda Kelley (Carrie Helmers), Ashley (Todd) Coombs, Allison (Kyle) Biggerstaff, and Nick (Jill) Suppes.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and grandparents