Obituary of Marvin Johnson

Marvin Vernon Johnson passed away at the Vermilion Health Center, Vermilion, Alberta, December 5, 2018 at the age of 88 years.

Marvin is survived by: his loving wife, Anne; his children, Garry (Gayle) Johnson and their children, Cole and Landon; Terry (Victoria) Johnson and their children, Josh, Alex, Nick, Mariah, Jazmin, Dru and Daine; Brenda (Dave) Lorenz and their children Bobbi, Chad and Kati; Robert (Francine) Johnson and their children, Branson and Paris; Neil Johnson and his children, Melissa, Alysha, and Hope; Debra (Ryan) Bader and their children, Jackson, MacKenna and Cooper; and his eleven great grandchildren.

Marvin was predeceased by: his parents, Herman and Besse Johnson; his three brothers, Milo, Lenard and Arnold; his twin sisters, Donna and Gloria; and his daughter-in-law, Sherrie Johnson.

The Memorial Service for Marvin will be conducted from the Marwayne Community Hall, Marwayne, Alberta on Friday, December 14, 2018 at 2:00 PM.

Donations in memory of Marvin may be made to the Charity of Choice.

Marvin's memorial card can be viewed or downloaded from the link below.

https://indd.adobe.com/view/51895f71-548a-445d-bb74-cf7cb849f579

Eulogy

Good afternoon everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Barry Bowtell and I am the eldest son of Donna and Harvey Bowtell.  Donna Bowtell, whom you may or may not know, was one of Marvin’s older twin sister’s.  It is an honor and privilege for me to be able to deliver this eulogy today to commemorate my uncle Marvin Johnson. He was a wonderful, kind and generous person with a precious gift of laughter and someone I had the deepest respect for.  I feel very fortunate to have had Marvin as my uncle. 

Now I know the first thing Marvin would want me to do is express his gratitude to each and every one of you for making the special effort to be here today and participate in the celebration of his life.

So to start off with, I’d like to share some of the events and stories members of Marvin’s family have shared with me about his life.

Beginnings

Marvin Vernon Johnson was born January 2nd, 1930 on a mighty cold winter’s night in his parent’s house, which was located on the very same spot that Marvin and his wife Anne, have resided to this very day. His father, Herman Johnson, had driven the team of horses, with stone boat in tow, to the neighboring Benson farm in order to call and bring the midwife to the house!

Marvin was the youngest of Herman and Bessie Johnson’s six children, with his eldest brother, Milo, being 20 years older, followed by brothers, Lenard and Arnold. Twin sisters, Gloria and Donna arrived two years prior to Marvin, whom he often referred to as “the apple of his parent’s eyes” and as a result claimed it was often difficult for him to find a way into the limelight!

Oh how his children loved to hear the stories of Marvin as a young man!  Marvin would fondly reminisce in great detail about the wonderful memories of his precious family and often would be heard saying: “Those were the Best of Days!!” He would tell stories of how he and his childhood friend, Oscar Eidsvik, would have to walk or ski to the North Park School, and you guessed it....it was up hill both ways!

Young Adult

As a young man, Marvin moved to Edmonton to work during the winter months, and took on jobs with a tow truck company and as manager of the bedding department with the Eatons Department Store. He became quite the well-dressed city boy, which is demonstrated in many the photographs of Marvin at that time. Marvin had to keep up appearances with his two remaining brothers-in-law, Harvey Bowtell and Walter Arnold. In 1953 Marvin’s mother suffered a severe stroke, forcing him to make the decision to come back home and take over the family farm.

Finding Love

It was during his mother’s hospitalization in the Elk Point Hospital, that he first set his eyes upon a beautiful, dark-haired nurse, named Anne Watson. Letters began to fly between the two of them over the next few years and as fate would have it, they began dating in 1956 while Marvin was still working some of the winter months in Edmonton and Anne was now nursing at the Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton. Time passed and Anne moved to the Yukon to nurse, but distance wasn’t going to change the course of their love. Marvin knew she was the one and sent her a letter, requesting she come home to him! It didn’t take long and on July 19, 1958 they were married and became one.

Raising a Family

Six kids followed in the next 7 years!!! They worked hard and raised them all while having next to no amenities until they built their new home in 1973. The new home had running water, indoor plumbing and even carpet flooring and truly seemed like a luxury mansion to the entire family! Yet, if you were to ask any one of the Johnson family members today, you would hear them tell you: “We may not have had much, but we had EVERYTHING we needed!” Marvin and Anne, together, taught their children that hard work never hurt anyone and they all learned to “get up with the roosters” to milk cows before heading down the road to catch the school bus (Well everyone, except maybe for Deb!).

In the winter, the kids spent countless hours outside helping Marvin and Anne do chores, but he always warned the kids not to put their tongues on anything cold. Which seems like pretty sound advise at the time. You didn’t go around licking things in the summer time, why on earth would you do it in the winter? BECAUSE someone told them not too!! So you can pretty much guess what happened? There weren’t many of the Johnson kids that didn’t end up with there tongue stuck to some steel waterspout or the engine block of the old Minneapolis tractor and any other piece of steel machinery that happened to be in the yard!

Marvin taught his children best through real life experiences! While they weren’t very old, in fact their feet couldn’t even reach the peddles in the 3 ton truck, Marvin would have them steer the truck while he put it in gear, jumped in the back to cut the bales and throw them off to the herd and then get back in the truck to stop it! Lets just say: You certainly were well prepared to get your driver’s license back then!!

As busy as Marvin and Anne were, they always made time for their children, getting them involved in 4- H, hockey, baseball, skating and a few other activities that came their way. Marvin loved music and to dance. If he wasn’t singing in the tractor or car, he was teaching every one of his kids how to dance by having them stand on the tops of his feet while he moved to the music. They never missed a dance at the North Park Hall or Tulliby Lake.

Farming in his Blood

0ne year Marvin worked hard to cut spruce logs and haul them all the way from Primrose Lake, about an hour north of Cold Lake, to build his hip-roofed barn, which still stands in the yard to this day. That barn was something Marvin was very proud of.

Over his years of farming Marvin and Anne did whatever they could in building a cow herd and putting up feed for the winter. Each year they would square bale about 20,000 greened bales around the home area and then head as far as Marwayne to bale another 20,000 straw bales. Deb was just little and Marvin would tie an apple box to the stuker with baler twine so she could sleep in it while he drove the tractor and Anne stuked the bales. Often Deb was covered in chaff and asleep as she refused to be a part of any harvesting! They hauled the bales home with the 3-ton truck, some years in the snow and into December to get it all done. Years later Marvin bought a round baler and often remarked what a huge difference that made to the amount of work and effort that was required to put up feed. Marvin commented that often felt he was on holidays with the addition of that new equipment! He had a truck and camper at this time and would set it up in the field and bale all day and night, only stopping for a quick lunch or pot of coffee. He actually started to enjoy harvesting after all those years!

Ranching

In the 1970’s, Marvin took real pride in selecting, buying, raising and importing Semintal Cattle. The family vividly remembers the 3 main cows, Mia, Maquette and Babette with Brenda having a very personal relationship with Mia who apparently wasn’t too fond of women! (Another story for another time!) He would sell the bulls and some of the heifers; all the while his goal was to build a purebred herd. That all lead to a cattle buyer offering him $50,000 for 1 purebred heifer!! Marvin’s response: “Is that all???” To which the buyer replied; “No, I didn’t say that!” Marvin did turn the offer down as his goal remained to increase his purebred herd but often commented: “That’s the day where 2 fools met!!”

Marvin also had a love for his horses. Jack, Bud and of course his team horses, Queen, Dolly, and Babe. There are so many good memories of hitching the teams up to the sleigh, loading feed for the cattle and heading out over the fields with bells a jingling. Yes, the horses were primarily for work, but Marvin couldn’t resist always throwing in some fun.  So he would attach the children’s toboggans behind the sleigh while he maneuvered his way over the hills, making sure to hit a few frozen “cow patties” along the way!

Recreational Interests

Marvin was a true fisherman and loved to go camping, taking many trips to lakes in Saskatchewan with friends and family.  They always had such a great time regardless of whether they caught fish or not!  Enjoying time with friends and family became a top priority for Marvin and Anne. In later years, Brenda would book week long or even long week-ends group camping spots at Pierce Lake or Meadow Lake Park and Marvin and Anne along with family and friends would all pull their trailers up for some fishing, visiting and fun in the sun. Neil’s cabin at Laurier Lake also became another popular and very convenient spot for Marvin and his family to enjoy the great outdoors.  Each year Marvin could not wait for the May long weekend to arrive so he could get his trailer packed up and head somewhere camping. No garden or uncertain weather held him back from getting to where he wanted to be and it was always a bonus to be able to enjoy the camping experiences with his family and friends. 

Marvin also had a tremendous love for the outdoors and hunting. He literally couldn’t wait for hunting season to begin, which resulted in a couple of charges that were later thrown out in court, but that’s a whole other story!  Many years ago, when Marvin was a young man and hunting with his neighbors, he managed to shoot the first elk in this part of the country, long before we even had an elk season in these parts! “Who knew!” Over the years he hunted with so many people who would make the trip down to the farm. He often would be found driving around the countryside with Lyle Froelich telling stories about this part of country and at the same time throwing in a little history lesson. Lyle often joked that over their years hunting together, he probably heard the odd story more than once! They always had lots of laughs and on one occasion they even managed to bag a moose.  Lyle stating that he made a great shot ranged out at 315 yards and uphill!

Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren

Marvin’s grandsons all loved hunting with Grampa and joined him in looking for deer as young as 3 years of age! He’d love to tease and make anything ordinary seem extraordinary, stepping hard on the truck gas pedal once in awhile and spinning the tires.  Then he’d say to them “Betsy sure likes to twist her tail!” And they’d all have a big laugh! His grandkids adored their Grampa, and he had a special place for each one of them in his heart!

Grandchildren ranked at the top as far as one of the biggest highlights in Marvin’s life.  I am sure everyone has heard the saying “ If I new having grandchildren was this much fun I would have had them first”.  Marvin and Ann were delighted to welcome each and every one of their grandchildren and felt very fortunate that many of them lived close by.  But they all eventually became more victims of his relentless teasing, which I know deep down they all loved.

He was very proud of their academic and sporting achievements.  Grandchildren who are now enjoying careers as engineers, pharmacists, scientists, missionaries, speech language pathologists, trucking business owner/entrepreneurs, administrative support staff as well as University/College students in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario studying in environmental sciences, kinesiology/medicine, along with a couple of younger grandchildren doing very well academically and finishing their high school diplomas.  In addition, he was very proud of the Western and Alberta junior level hockey players who lived just down the road from him.

Life as a Senior

In 1987, Marvin suffered a heart attack, forcing him to slow down. To his pride, his eldest son, Garry, picked up the reins to continue on with the farm and ensured the family tradition and homestead all remained in place. Marvin, of course, couldn’t just stop working completely and as a result took on an instrumental role in the community with the development and construction of the Lea Park Campground. This has become a special place, which many of us have enjoyed over the years and still do to this day.

Somewhere in the years between 1989-90, Marvin and Anne began their 25-year journey as snowbirds, traveling to Yuma Arizona for the winter months. They enjoyed so many wonderful memories filled with dancing, sharing stories, jokes and laughter! You could always see their pure joy and happiness from being there, telling stories of what happened with all their friends and relatives! One of their travelling companions, as they had many, was Bill and Joan Miklejohn, of whom they shared 17 annual fall trips together. Including trips across Canada and to the Yukon. They would get in their vehicles, head south and when they hit the T-Intersection at Kitscoty, they would decide whether to head east or west!

During this time period many life-long friends were made. This had the positive result in 6 or 7 couples coming with their RV’s from Saskatchewan, Alberta and the United States to join them for the Lea Park Rodeo.  A summer time version of camaraderie they enjoyed down in Arizona quickly ensued and became an annual event.

Life’s Values

Money doesn’t buy happiness

The Johnson children have often remarked on just how happy it made them feel to witness their parents enjoying “the fruits of their labor,” traveling and making amazing friendships that Marvin would constantly reminisce about. And this speaks volumes to the strong values Marvin and Anne put on the importance of family and friendships!  After all, I think it’s pretty safe to say, that anyone and everyone who knew Marvin understood that his philosophy in life was “Money Doesn’t Buy You Happiness!” Marvin did all he could to help out 3 of his boys setup farming and ranching operations on their own and still managed to help out his other 3 children in whatever way he could! He never worried about having a bunch of money and learned very early in life that money doesn’t buy you happiness.

Family First

Now raising six kids was no easy task.  But “family first” was definitely a motto Marvin lived by.  I remember in August of 2017 having coffee with my cousin Lorraine the day after her 50th wedding anniversary celebration.  The subject of Marvin’s family came up and we both expressed how much our families loved going to the Johnson farm for a visit.  It was always nice to see our grandparents and then witness and enjoy the hubbub of activity with Marvin and his family. 

Marvin and Anne always made you feel welcome and at home and of course Marvin always had something up his sleeve to entertain his “city slicker “nieces and nephews.  But what we both commented on was how successful all six of Marvin and Anne’s kids had turned out and how they remained a very close family.  They have all been successful in their career paths, whether it be the farming/ beef industry, North Star Outfitting, marketing Treasure Mills School Safe bakery products around the world or as a highly specialized cardiac nurse at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary. 

Marvin stressed to me several times the importance of keeping good family relations and how much he enjoyed his large family celebrations at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.  He was especially grateful for the successful Johnson Family Reunion his son Neil hosted this past July as well as the celebration of his 60 years of marriage to his lovely wife Ann this past July as well.  I remember one time when we were fishing together, this was about 20 years ago, he commented, you know Barry, “love is grand but divorce is 100 grand.”  Then he burst out into that silly laugh of his.

Friendships

What was important to him was family and friends. He had the greatest sense of humor and an infectious laugh. That was evident throughout his entire life, and right to the very end!  Marvin truly had such an impact on so many people!

Marvin really just couldn’t get enough of visiting and laughter. Up until the last few years he was often the last one heading off to bed. Even this past summer, at the age of 88, it wasn’t until when only the clean up was left to be done (after 1:30 am) did Marvin and Anne decide to go home after celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary!! And what a celebration that was!! Marvin was overwhelmed with just how many people had come to celebrate with him and Anne, remarking to Deb that he expected only a handful of cars to be there when he drove into the park!! He just never really understood just how much he was loved and by so many!

Humour

The Readers Digest magazine, who I am sure many of you here either subscribe to or have read at one time or another, always had a section titled “Laughter is the best Medicine”.  I don’t anyone who lived by this philosophy more than Marvin. 

If you were to ask Marvin what his mission or goals in life were; I am sure he would state that one of them was to lift or boost an individual or a group of people’s spirits by providing a little humor in their lives.  And I am sure everyone would agree he was a master at this.  At the many social events, family reunions, fishing trips, camping trips or even a one on one visit, Marvin definitely had the gift of making these occasions an even more enjoyable time with his great sense of humor and infectious gift of laughter.  He went out of his way to visit friends or relatives in hospital or at home with failing health and was always successful in putting a smile on their face or boosting their spirits with one of his quirky jokes or teasing them in some fashion. 

I witnessed this for myself during my mother’s period of failing health how much her spirits were lifted during and after a visit from brother Marvin.  They had a great time reminiscing about their days on the farm and laughing about the crazy little tricks and funny incidents that occurred while growing up.

The Love of His Life

Yet, above all this, there was the one woman whom he loved more than life itself! His Anne. Over their 60 years of marriage, they faced many challenges and hardships, they laughed and they cried together and maybe even argued a little bit here and there, but were always very devoted to one another. They were a team and Marvin would tell Anne, after they had their good-night kiss and as she tucked him into bed, that he wouldn’t know what he’d have done without her! They truly were ONE!  It was no easy task looking after Marvin at home during this past year when his health was slowly declining.  Obviously those nursing skills were put to good use and as Marvin said; he was very fortunate to enjoy the comfort and warmth of his home as long is he did, thanks to Anne.

I certainly want to acknowledge my aunt Ann and the tremendous job she did not only in raising a wonderful family but in keeping Marvin on the straight and narrow.  My mother Donna and aunt Gloria often commented on how lucky Marvin was to have such a wonderful wife like Anne.

 

Well Loved

Marvin no doubt was well known and deeply loved by family and friends alike.  During his lengthy time of illness, the family really came to realize what a truly amazing and well-loved man their father was.  The overflowing boxes of cards and letters, the steady flow of visitors and the numerous phone calls attested to the positive impact Marvin had on the lives of many.  It has been a real blessing for the family to receive the concern and witness the love for their father during his brave battle with an inoperable aneurysm.

 

Take the Hand of Jesus

When the tide turned, life’s battle was done and God whispered to Marvin he was to come home, Marvin’s message to all of us here today, would likely have been; “Don’t you worry about me, I have been blessed with a wonderful loving family, many cherished friends and have lived a long, fulfilling and enjoyable life.”

Marvin wore many hats including that of son, brother, husband, father, grampa, great-grampa, and uncle. He was a man that TRULY CARED about people and was a wonderful friend to anyone who knew him!

We have ALL been Beyond Blessed to have Marvin for as many years as we did and there is no doubt, he will be deeply missed....but Marvin, we will NEVER FORGET how to laugh, as you taught us that so very well!

 

So on behalf of Marvin’s family we believe he truly has!  Marvin Vernon Johnson has been a true inspiration for us all.  We love you Marvin!  

 Thank you,

Written by Marvin’s family and delivered to the congregation by his nephew Barry Bowtell at Marvin’s Celebration of Life, Friday, December 14, 2018