Mari Johnson

Mari “Mary” F. Johnson, age 87, of Willmar, passed away on Thursday morning, Dec. 20, at Brookdale Senior Living in Plymouth.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 4, at the First Presbyterian Church in Willmar.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church.  Interment will be at a later date at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.  In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Hawk Creek Animal Shelter are preferred.  Arrangements are with the Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar.  www.petersonbrothers.com

Mari Fae (Briggs) Johnson was born on February 25, 1931, in Brookings, South Dakota, the daughter of George Merle and Edna Fae (Marshman) Briggs.  In 1942, the family moved to Robbinsdale and in 1949, Mari graduated from Robbinsdale High School and attended college at Macalester College and St. Cloud University.  In 1953, Mari was united in marriage to Glen L. Johnson.  They lived in Mankato and Morris before moving to Willmar in August of 1963.  Mari worked for many years as a LPN at both Bethesda Heritage Center and Bethesda Pleasant View Nursing Home.  After retiring from Bethesda she continued to work in the community as a volunteer at Rice Memorial Hospital, Meals on Wheels, and was a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church.  She and Glen loved to travel, both to visit family and to visit historical sights. Some of their most memorable trips included Gettysburg, Washington DC, the Baltimore house, the national parks in Utah, and many trips to Seattle to visit her cousin Edith (and Bob) Carey.  In October of 2016, she moved into Brookdale Senior Living in Plymouth.  She enjoyed reading, especially the history of the Kennedy’s, telling good stories and had a fond love of dogs.

She is survived by three sons, Douglas (and Cheryl) Johnson of Robbinsdale, Jeff (and Sue Ann) Johnson of Farmington and Mike (and Ruth) Johnson of Becker; six grandchildren, Patrick (and Patty), Craig (and Karey), Eliza, Zachary, Alexandra and Abigail; two great grandchildren, Andrew and Daniel; besides other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Glen in 2013.