Collins J. Johnson

Collins Johnson, 96,

from Somerset Court in

Minot, formerly of Ken-

mare, died Monday, Sep-

tember 21, at Trinity Hos-

pital, Minot.

Collins Jean Johnson

was born October 28,

1923, the son of Albert W.

and Mamie Eleanor (Bent-

ley) Johnson in Denmark

Township, northeast of

Kenmare. He attended a

one room schoolhouse

near his home for grade

school, one year of

correspondence school

and graduated from Ken-

mare Public School in

1941. He married Arlene

E. Hermansen on June 8,

1947, in Flaxton, ND.

They farmed and lived on

the original homestead

until moving to Somerset

Court in Minot in 2015.

Collins attended Trinity

Lutheran Church, Faith

Baptist Church, and the

Church of the Nazarene in

Kenmare. While in Minot,

he attended Heritage Bap-

tist Church. His relation-

ship and faith in God

were a very important

part of his life.

Collins was a fire

department representative

for Denmark Township.

He was a member of the

Kenmare Senior Citizens

and enjoyed getting to-

gether with friends. He

was on the Trinity

Cemetery Board. His pri-

mary work involved any-

thing related to the farm,

as he worked hard and di-

ligently as a farmer. He

was also a school bus

driver for Kenmare Public

Schools, worked at Farm-

ers Union Lumber and at

Erickson Ford in Ken-

mare.

Collins loved looking at

the crops any day of the

week but especially on

Sunday afternoon drives.

He loved playing checkers

with the grandkids and

great-grandkids, no matter

what their age was. His

nursery rhyme song list

for nap time was limited,

but the grandkids and

great-grandkids did not

mind as he usually fell

asleep first. He was a man

of integrity. His hard work

and sacrifice have and

will continue to impact

his family. Collins loved

his family and God. He

never met a stranger as he

could talk with anyone.

Collins was preceded

in death by: his parents;

brothers, Alvin (Ella)

Johnson, Floyd (Ellen)

Johnson; sister, Doris

(Lester) Hanson;

brothers-in-law and

sisters-in-law, Jim (Oda)

Hermansen, Herman

(Josie) Hermansen, Edith

(Frank) Nelson, Signa

(Reuben) Larson; son, Lar-

ry Johnson; and two

grandchildren and one

great-grandchild, Elijah

Forsberg.

He is survived by: his

wife of over 73 years, Ar-

lene, and his children,

LaNae (Steve) Joyce, Oak

Point, TX, Loren (Lynn)

Johnson, Kenmare, ND,

Lois Mehlhoff, Lynden,

WA, Loretta (John) Fors-

berg, Bottineau, ND, and

daughter-in-law, Melinda

Johnson, Kenmare, ND.

He is also survived by 17

grandchildren: Chad (Jen-

na) Joyce, Tyler Joyce, Re-

becca (R.J.) Picchioni,

Kristin (Steve) McDonald,

Cheryl (Jonathan) Van-

Loon, Brenda (Anthony)

Versfelt, Kathy (Russ)

Roth, Julie (Jesse) Tigner,

Laura Johnson, Marci

Johnson, Stacey (Paul)

Nolen, Anne Johnson,

Kayla (Jared) Hinsch, Der-

rick Mehlhoff, Alyssa

(Derrek) Telling, Tyler

Forsberg, Nathaniel (Shei-

la) Forsberg; 25

great-grandchildren: Caro-

line, Jillian, Penelope, and

Jackson Joyce; Archer,

Dani, and Ellie Picchioni;

Tanner, Caleb, and Parker

McDonald; Bridget and

Amber VanLoon; Hannah

and Kenzie Versfelt; Sari-

ah and Sam Tigner; Elijah,

Jaydon, and Meghan

Hinsch; Tucker, Grace,

and Asche Telling; Kol-

ten, Hudson, and Peyton

Forsberg; and several

nieces, nephews, and

cousins.

Instead of flowers, the

family would prefer you

consider a memorial to ei-

ther an organization of

your choice, Wycliffe Bi-

ble Translators or Pioneer

Bible Translators (Stacey

and Paul Nolen).

A public viewing will

be held at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home in Minot, ND

on Friday from 5 to 7 pm.

A private family service

will be held but the ser-

vice will be live streamed

for viewing at this link:

https://hbcminot.org/

live-service on Saturday,

October 3, at 10:30 am.

A public graveside ser-

vice will be held at Trini-

ty Lutheran Cemetery in

rural Kenmare on Satur-

day, October 3, at 2:30

pm. Due to the corona-

virus pandemic, it is the

family’s request that

everyone wear a mask and

observe social distancing.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at

(www.thompson

larson.com)