Ervin Johnson

Ervin Johnson, age 89 of Fridley, MN went to his heavenly home to be with his Saviour on Oct. 20, 2020.  He was raised on a farm near Cushing, MN and attended the Cushing Baptist Church.  At a Tent Meeting held in Cushing with Rev. Cully Olson as the evangelist he gave his heart to the Lord.  That decision remained central in his life until 10/20/2020 when he went to meet his Saviour face to face.

He joined the US army in May, 1954. After his 6 months of basic training he married his red hair & freckle faced fiancé, Jeanne Bass on Dec. 21,1954 at Cushing Baptist Church. They moved to Ft. Benning, GA for the remaining 18 months of his army service. While there, their daughter, Sheryl Lynn, was born.  We called her our “Georgia Peach”.  Following his discharge the little family moved to Mpls. We added a son, Mark Leslie to our family in 1958.

Finding a church where we could grow in Christ was important. Brooklyn Center Baptist Church became the church that filled our needs.  A new location and name change to Edinbrook is still our choice of a place to worship.

Erv worked at Columbia Heights Schools where he retired after 29 years as custodian & bus driver.  Locksmith work attracted him so he took a 9 month night school course at Floyd Lock.  He opened a shop in the basement of our home in Fridley where it was open for approx. 25 years.  At age 62 Ervin retired from Columbia Heights Schools.

We purchased an RV and became winter snowbirds and summer campers.  We joined Christian Campers of MN in 1995. The past 20 years we have wintered in Lake Bonnet Village in Avon Park, FL.

For several years he dealt with Alzheimer’s but he enjoyed life.  In Feb. of this year he began having health issues while in FL.  We came home to live with our daughter & son-in-law in Sauk Centre.  With their help life was going well until he lost his balance and all 6’ of him hit the floor very hard on Sun. night, Oct. 11th.  His pelvis & hip socket were fractured plus a urinary tract infection was too much for him.  He became unresponsive and was on hospice care for 6 days.  He peacefully slipped away with family at his bedside.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years Jeanne (Bass) Johnson, daughter Sheryl (Vicente) Gonzalez,  daughter-in-law Colleen (Larson) Johnson, sister Audrey Pritchard, brother David (Gerry) Johnson, sisters-in-law Janice Johnson,  Ardelle Johnson, Betty Johnson, Barb Bass. Preceded in death by son Mark, his parents Oscar & Rosella (Cramer) Johnson, sisters Mildred Borgstrom & Edith Dobson. Brothers Carl, Elmer, & Marvin Johnson. Brothers-in-law John Pritchard, Irving Borgstrom, Johnny Dobson, and Bill Bass. He has four grandchildren, Kristina Tiessen, Michael (Jenny) Gonzalez, Kayla (Justin) Norcross, Cole Johnson and five great grandchildren, Katie, Jacob, & Jackson Tiessen, Paige & Jonah Gonzalez.