Obituary of Connie Johnson

On Thursday November 17, 2022, at age 85 Connie found peace and joined her husband Don and mother Marcella in heaven after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She will be dearly missed by her three daughters: Laurie, Janice and Kristin, their spouses and her pride and joy her grandchildren Ben, Katy, and Ben junior.

Connie was born in southern Minnesota and grew up in St. Paul. She was an only child and was raised by her mother and also spent a year and a half living with a family in a boarding home when her mother was ill with tuberculosis. Even faced with adversity, she thrived in school and graduated in the top 10 of her class at Harding High School. She had a close circle of high school friends who affectionately referred to each other as the "chums," and their friendship endured throughout her entire life.

After high school, Connie attended Gustavus Adolphus College where she graduated with honors with degrees in Sociology & Psychology. She remained an active alumna throughout her entire life and enjoyed attending football games, fundraisers, and concerts on campus.

After college, she pursued a career as a social worker with Ramsey County. It was her ambition to help others who faced adversity and try to make their lives better.

She met her husband Don of 50+ years through mutual friends, and they were married shortly thereafter. Don’s job enabled the couple to travel throughout the country and overseas which instilled a love for travel that she shared with her family and friends.

She resided in Bloomington, MN, for the majority of her adult life where she raised her 3 daughters. She enjoyed bowling, volleyball, camping, playing the piano, and was an active member of the Jefferson Marching Band Boosters Club, and her daughter’s Girl Scout troops. As a member of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, she enjoyed bible study, working in the library, choir, and quilt group.

Connie loved to cook and created many wonderful memories for her family with the holidays she hosted, especially Thanksgiving. She was also an avid quilter with meticulous attention to detail which enabled her to create many heirloom pieces for family and friends. She was an active member of Minnesota Quilters and won several awards for her quilts.

After her husband passed, she moved to Edina and then to Hugo, MN, for the last few years of her life and the special care that she needed.

No immediate services will be held. A celebration of Connie’s life will be held in the spring of 2023 with an interment where she will be laid to rest beside her husband Don. Memorials are suggested to Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, in Connie’s name @ https://gustavus.edu/give/Linnaeus%20Arboretum