Doris E. (Peterson) Johnson, 91, of Annandale died Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, at the St. Cloud Hospital.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Annandale with Pastor Dave Nelson officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Burial will take place at St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, Annandale. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 331 Harrison St. W., Annandale, MN 55302 or charity of choice.
She is survived by her children and their spouses, Sandra (Michael) Hobbs of Golden Valley, Curtis (Barbara) of Sartell, Dean (Barbara) of Arcadia, Calif., James (Cheri Toftey) of Minneapolis and Lyndon (Nancy) of Annandale; grandchildren, Marcia, Michelle, Corinne, Erik, Kristen, Andrew, Matthew, Kate, Dane, Nicholas, Katelyn, and Jacob; great grandchildren, Joshua, Serena, Maren, Haylen and Evelyn; sister Rosalie Kotila of Champlin; sister-in-law Elma Peterson of Minnetonka and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Esther Peterson; husband, Earl Johnson; two infant daughters; and brother, Kenneth Peterson.
Doris Elaine (Peterson) Johnson was born March 30, 1923, in Knapp, to Ernest and Esther (Anderson) Peterson. She graduated from Cokato High School in 1941 and continued her education at the Minneapolis Business College.
On Sept. 4, 1943, she was united in marriage to Earl Edgar Johnson of Annandale. Together they raised five children on their farm.
Doris was humble, kind, quiet and unassuming. She held high expectations for herself and her family, and raised her children by example rather than admonition. She readily accepted new members to her family however they joined. She always tried to make or find just the right thing to acknowledge birthdays and holidays, whether baking a favorite dish, sewing custom doll clothes, embroidering sets of towels or commandeering the power tools to make wooden toy sleighs. She continued to write individual notes, even when doing so became difficult for her.
Like many from her era, Doris could squeeze a lot from a nickel or a day. She kept the family books, and even in the leanest of years there were presents and all ate well. Nothing was wasted, even the kids’ old tattered farm jeans became rag rug Christmas gifts. Despite long hours of work at Beecher’s Resort, Wyman’s and then Fingerhut, she always had the school lunches made, dinners prepared and her beautiful flower gardens maintained. Education was the highest priority. She always made time to read to her children, help them with homework, and challenge them in games. She was known to be a little less kind on the Monopoly game board or the mechanical hockey game.
She also had determination. She made sure the farmhouse would have electricity and eventually indoor plumbing. She was willing to take on any project. It was not uncommon to see her wielding a paintbrush or hammer, as well as creating on the sewing machine. For years she had a cartoon posted with caption, "Looks like a good year," with a farmer dreaming of a tractor and a wife dreaming of a house. In 1979 that cartoon finally moved to her new house. She taught her children and grandchildren to make pickles, blackberry jelly, and Swedish potato sausage. She liked to travel, first by family car trips. Later she and Earl traveled to Europe. When Earl was gone, she enjoyed many bus trips throughout the U.S. with her sister Rosalie. She became master crossword puzzler, and when a stroke made speech difficult, she refocused on jigsaw puzzles.
Doris was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, where she worshipped and enjoyed quilting and other activities. She lived the past eight years at the Annandale Care Center and Centennial Villa where she made many friends.