Howard Duane JOHNSON

JOHNSON, AUSTIN, KNUDSON, SPRAU, WOODLEY, TESSARO, AMBROSON, HAGARTY, KATUIN, ARTHUR, SWANSON, BAKER, BURRAS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/19/2015 at 16:28:58

August 23, 1930 --- September 5, 2015

Howard D. Johnson, 85, formerly of Forest City, died peacefully last Saturday night with his family by his side. He was living in a care center in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, having moved to the Cedar Rapids area after his beloved wife, Marge, passed away in 2009. Howard had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for over a decade.

A son of Tommy O. and Louise (Johnson) Johnson and the third youngest of ten living siblings, Howard was born on August 23, 1930, in Kanawha, Iowa. When he was 14, his family moved to a farm west of Forest City, and he graduated from Forest City High School. Drafted into the United States Army during the Korean conflict, he served two tours of duty in Europe before being honorably discharged. Upon his return, he lived and worked on the family farm. In his free time, he enjoyed singing and playing the guitar and harmonica as a member of a country western band called “The Leland Ramblers.”

Howard married Marjorie D. Austin on August 26, 1961, and became the loving adoptive father of Marge’s two daughters, Penny and Deb, and later, the father of two more daughters, Shelly and Trudy. Howard and Marge lived and worked on the family farm until 1979 when they moved to Leland. Howard, then, worked for the Farmers’ Co-op Elevator in Forest City until he retired.

Howard cherished time spent with family and enjoyed traveling to visit relatives around the country. In his later years, he, also, enjoyed golfing. Howard was a member of the American Legion and Immanuel Lutheran Church. A kind and gentle man, he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Howard is survived by his four daughters: Penny Knudson, and her husband, Richard, of Florida, Deborah Sprau, and her husband, Greg, of Minnesota, Shelly Woodley, and her husband, Lynn, of Mechanicsville, Iowa, and Trudy Tessaro, and her husband, Chuck, of Seattle, Washington; his grandchildren: William and Clinton (Abbey) Ambroson; Alison Hagarty; Scott (Sue) and Eric (Jen) Knudson; Christopher (Jen) and Brian Sprau; Cora, Cleo, and Eva Tessaro; and Brycen and Camron Woodley; his great-grand daughters: Vivian Ambroson and Abbie Knudson; his sisters: Ruth Katuin, Ethel Arthur, and Frances (Dean) Swanson; and his special friends, Brian Hagarty and Ron and Wendy Ambroson; as well as by countless nieces and nephews. Howard was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Marjorie; and his siblings: Leona Baker; Edith Burras; and Chester, Cleo, John, and Lawrence Johnson.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 11, 2015, at the Cataldo-Schott Funeral Home, 505 North Clark St., Forest City, Iowa. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 12, 2015, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City with Pastor Rod Hopp officiating. A brief graveside service will follow immediately thereafter at Oakland Cemetery in Forest City with full Veterans Honors provided by the Forest City American Legion. The family intends to direct monetary memorials to Alzheimer’s research. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Howard’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC.