Dr. Adelaide Johnson

Minot

Dr. Adelaide Delores Johnson, 98, Minot, formerly of Ray, longtime educator and community volunteer, died on Saturday, January 6, 2024, in Trinity Hospital after a brief illness.

Adelaide was born on September 12, 1925, on the family farm in Dublin Township of Williams County near Ray, to George and Thea (Thompson) Johnson. At a young age she moved with her family to a farm north of Ray.

She attended grades one through eight in a rural school near Ray and graduated from Ray High School in 1943. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Minot State Teachers College and began her teaching career in high schools in Carrington, Grenora, Elgin, Columbus, and Rugby. She earned a master’s degree from Colorado State University in 1959, and from 1960-62 taught at the American Military School in Berlin, Germany during the Cold War. She began working at Minot State College in 1962 as a supervising teacher in the University Laboratory School and in 1964 began teaching in the school of business. She later earned a PhD from the University of North Dakota and served as a professor in the MSU College of Business until retiring in 1987.

At MSU, Dr. Johnson served on multiple academic committees and was an advisor to the Pi Omega Pi, an honor society for business students, and to the Lutheran Student Association. She also held several leadership roles in Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society for woman educators. Johnson was recognized for her exemplary career by being designated an emeritus professor upon retirement. Deeply devoted to MSU, she later served on MSU’s Board of Regents, was awarded its Distinguished Lifetime Educator Award, and received the MSU Alumni Association’s Golden Award.

Dr. Johnson enjoyed traveling nationally and internationally, including to many European countries, the Middle East, and Russia. She was a longtime member of First Lutheran Church and active in many of its activities. She also volunteered with the Norsk Hostfest, American Red Cross, Girl Scouts Foundation, and the Seniors Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

She will forever be loved and missed by her family, including cousins Jeanne Wolla (Konley), who was raised as a sister, and Donna Fettig, Minot; her nieces and nephews including Paul Johnson (Teresa Monicken) of St Paul MN; Steven Johnson (Angela) of Ray; Gail Johnson Gonzalez of Apple Valley MN; Karen Johnson Fantauzza of Apple Valley MN; Eric Johnson (Jill Fedje) of Minneapolis; Jerol Johnson (Caroline) of Ray; Kristopher Wolla (Sherry) of Minot; Anne Nordgaard (Mark) of Minot; Christine Knudsen (James) of Minot; and nephew-in-law Jerry Bratvold of Ray. Adelaide is also survived by numerous cousins, great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Adelaide was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Eleanor, brother Julian Johnson and his wife Betty, Arthur Johnson and his wife Annabel, her niece Kirsten Johnson Bratvold of Ray, and special lifelong friend Doris Slaaten.

Funeral service: 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 12th, 2024 at First Lutheran Church in Minot. To view a livestream of the service or share memories and condolences access her obituary at www.thomasfamilyfuneralhome.com

Interment: Rainbow Valley Cemetery, rural Ray, ND in the Spring 2024.

Visitation: Thursday, January 11, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with prayer service to begin at 5:00 p.m. in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot

Memorials are preferred to the Adelaide & Eleanor Johnson Scholarship at MSU or the First Lutheran Church Foundation.

Published by The Minot Daily News, January 10, 2024.