Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson, 87,

Kenmare, formerly of Tol-

ley, died Monday, Aug.

16, 2021, at his home.

The Richard Johnson

Story: I was born Jan. 6,

1934, at home to second

generation Scandinavian

immigrants, Newell

Everett and Alice Sophie

(Knutson) Johnson, Staf-

ford Township, in north

central North Dakota. I

was told it was a cold

prairie winter day. I was

the sixth of nine children.

I was big for my age as a

young child. I was the big-

gest and meanest one in

school. I could beat-up

anybody – even the

teachers. And I could run

fast. I like playing ball,

spearing fish, and playing

in the water, the Mouse

River that is.

One of my favorite

things was shocking grain

with Grandpa Pete.

Between the two of us, we

could out do the husky

guys. I bought my first bi-

cycle when I was about 10

or 11. I saved up the mo-

ney from trapping

weasels. I ordered a bike

complete with a

battery-operated flashlight

headlight from the

Montgomery Ward cata-

log. That first day I rode

and rode. I sure did have

some sore muscles. I

spent a lot of time with

my brother, Kenneth, who

was three and a half years

older than me. Our age

difference sometimes led

to trouble. He shot me in

the nose once with a bow

and arrow.

I was always a rather

curious type. I was a fire

bug. I nearly burned the

house down on two dif-

ferent occasions. If it

wasn’t for the wash tub

being there that first time,

I would have burned the

house down and me with

it. The second time I

burned the steps off the

house but the fire depart-

ment was able to save the

house and most of the

connecting shed.

I attended a country

school with my older

brothers and sisters. If I

didn’t go to school then I

had to work on the

threshing machine keep-

ing the grain box level.

That was a dirty job for a

little guy, so I went to

school. I thought school

was fun. My best friends

in school were my

cousins. I was called “Bull

John Henderson.” “Bull”

because of my size and

willingness to fight and

“Henderson” because

there was a boxer or

somebody back then with

that name. School was

easy. I sluffed off a lot.

My grades were always

pretty good. No A+’s but

good enough considering I

never studied or put too

much effort into anything.

I quit school three months

into the ninth grade. I was

smarter than the teacher

anyway. Well, maybe she

was almost as smart as

me.

In some ways, I regret

not continuing in school,

but education was just not

as important then as it is

now. If I would have

stayed in school, I think I

would have liked to have

been a banker since I like

handling money. In my

opinion, education is a

life-long process. You get

more education with age,

up to a certain point, then

you start losing it.

When my older broth-

ers had all left home and

joined the military, there

was a need for help on the

farm. There was even a

greater need when my fa-

ther had a severe heart at-

tack. I was doing all the

farming by the time I was

seventeen.

I farmed my entire life.

I enjoyed farming. You

can see what you are do-

ing. You can watch your

crops grow. It doesn’t

seem like work. It is like

building a house, you can

see what you are doing.

Throughout the years, I

also raised cattle which I

really enjoyed, most of the

time. I raised buffalo for a

few years but then sold

them all but one. It was

too sick to sell. We

thought it was going to

die. Guess what? It’s still

living. The only buffalo in

a herd of cattle. They

seem to get along just

fine, for now.

I’ve always liked histo-

ry, particularly the Civil

War to World War II era. I

also find Native American

history very interesting.

I’ve accumulated a collec-

tion of artifacts over the

years. I’ve enjoyed visiting

museums. My children

may not have always en-

joyed those trips, but I

sure did. For me, the ulti-

mate museum was the

Smithsonian in Washing-

ton, D.C. Everybody

should see that!

I love the outdoors, par-

ticularly hunting and fish-

ing. Game and fish were

plentiful in the valley in

those early years. The old-

er I’ve become the less

game and fish I brought

home which of course has

nothing to do with my in-

creasing age. I did have

the opportunity to travel

to Alaska and to shoot a

caribou. The mounted

head and antlers hung

over the staircase for

years. If you didn’t duck,

you would have a close

encounter of a “caribou

kind.”

All the years I and my

family lived along the

Mouse River, I never had

to rescue anyone who had

fallen through the ice.

Then there was me. I de-

cided to go out for a walk

in the new snow. I had

taught my kids to always

check the ice before walk-

ing out on it. A parent

doesn’t always have to do

what they tell their kids.

Right? Well, I didn’t, and I

fell through. The house

was full of kids and

grandkids. They didn’t

know where I went. If it

wasn’t for freezing the

sleeves of my jacket on

the ice to pull myself out I

never would have sur-

vived. I never did that

again.

I’ve had the pleasure of

being involved in various

organizations and boards:

Sherwood Public School

board, Our Savior Luth-

eran Church as member

and on the board, Sports-

man Club, Stafford Town-

ship board, Tolley Grain

Growers Elevator board,

Renville County Weed

board, Renville Bottineau

Ag Improvement Associa-

tion board, Citizens Unit-

ed to Save the Valley

board, Elks Club, National

Rifle Association, Mouse

River Park board. I was a

Harvest Bowl recipient in

1977 and received the

Centennial Award for the

farm in 1989.

My family has enriched

my life with their various

personalities and talents.

Myrna and I grew up only

four miles apart and knew

each other our entire

lives. No surprise that I

would marry that beauti-

ful 18-year-old.

And that’s the God’s

truth!

Family: Children, Sally

May, Minot, Carol (Glen)

Southam, Jamestown,

Kirk (Martha) Johnson,

rural Sherwood, Faye

Clausen, Minot, Ruth

(William IV) Stanley,

Sherwood; grandchildren,

Andrew May, Tonya (Jon)

Perkins, Kerri (Rhett) Ben-

ning, Kari (Pat) Ely, Jared

Johnson, Kristen Helseth,

Christopher Clausen,

Ryan Clausen, William

Stanley V, Whitney (Jus-

tin) Aberle, Wyatt Stan-

ley, and Waylon (Morgan

Raap) Stanley;

great-grandchildren, Brax-

ton Perkins, Kyler Per-

kins, Etta Perkins, Kaleb

Benning, Bree Benning,

Addie Benning, Jace Ely,

Barron Ely, Brekkyn Ely,

Finn Clausen, Willow

Clausen, Harper Stanley,

Beckett Stanley, Gage

Aberle, Kroix, Aberle,

Berkley Aberle, Blayklee;

sisters, Marjorie Sundahl,

Mohall, Judith (David)

Homan, Omaha, Neb.; ex-

tended family,

brother-in-law, Wayne

(Crystal) Johnson;

sister-in-law, Zella (Don)

Ackerson; and cousins of

which there are many.

On behalf of Richard’s

family, thank you for your

unique role, whether

friend or family, that you

had in our father’s story,

the decisions made, the

friendships that evolved,

the problems solved, the

cows chased, the success-

ful (or not so successful)

hunting adventures, the

community projects, the

games won and lost. A

particular ‘thank you’ to

Bernie Knutson for keep-

ing an eye on our father

after his move to Ken-

mare.

Richard was preceded

in death by: brothers,

Robert, Donovan, Kenneth

and Paul; infant-brother,

John; and sister, Delores

Lamb; granddaughter,

Claudia May; son-in-law,

Larry May.

Funeral: 11 a.m., Mon-

day, August 23, 2021, at

Our Savior Lutheran

Church, Sherwood.

Burial: Rosehill

Cemetery, rural Norma.

Family Service: 7 p.m.,

Sunday, August 22, 2021,

at the church.

Visitation: noon to 5

p.m., Sunday, at Brose

Funeral Home, Mohall.

Friends may also sign the

online guestbook at

brosefuneralhome.com.