Terry Johnson
March 14, 1953 – July 1, 2022
Terry Edwin Johnson
was born on March 14th,
1953, to Albin & Delores
(Thingvold) Johnson in
Rugby, North Dakota. He
passed away at the age of
69 years in his home on
July 1st, 2022.
Terry was raised in
Rolette, where he attend-
ed school. He started out
his working career at
Graber-Shrock Chevrolet
as a mechanic, working
alongside his dad. Around
this time was when he
met the love of his life,
Donna Martin. He knew
that she was the one he
wanted to build a life
with, so he made the deci-
sion to make her his wife.
They were united in mar-
riage on May 19, 1973.
A couple of years had
flown by, and they decid-
ed it was time to expand
their family. This was
when the first of five chil-
dren were born, Craig, fol-
lowed by Nancy, Sherri,
Terri and Jeff to solidify
their family. In 1981, he
started to work for Cenex
and continued to work for
40 years, although he
wasn’t working like he
used to, Terry continued
his employment through
Cenex up until his very
last day on Earth. Terry
also served as chief of the
Rolette Fire Department.
He had the honor of hold-
ing this title from 1978 –
1998 and if you were to
ask anyone, he did a
damn good job at it. After
years of raising what they
called their first batch of
children and becoming
grandparents, Terry and
Donna took on one of the
most selfless acts they
could and decided they
would raise 7 of their 15
grandchildren. Although
at times it felt like it was
near impossible, they did
it, and they did it well.
Terry enjoyed many
things throughout his life.
He loved having his fami-
ly around to visit and
bicker with, he would en-
joy Facetiming and calling
his friends and family
throughout the day to
simply check in, and he
thoroughly enjoyed going
on his Snapchat to see
what everyone of his
friends was doing at all
times of the day. As life
had gone by, it became
more difficult for him to
do the things he once did,
but in all reality, it did not
stop him from trying.
Throughout these last few
months, one of his bigger
focuses was getting his
yard cleaned up and his
deck redone. He had Aus-
tin, Braydon, and Mason
helping, but Terry would
do what he could, when
he could. A few things are
still left to be completed,
but we all know that they
will be done in no time,
because we will continue
to have his voice in the
back of our mind, holler-
ing at us “Get it done”.
Terry is survived by his
wife of 49 years, Donna
Johnson; five children,
Craig (Lorna) Johnson,
Nancy Ortiz, Sherri Matu-
la, Terri (Mark) Erickson,
Jeff Johnson; several
grandchildren, Alex Tho-
mas, Cassie Hietala, Dawn
LaVallie (Trace
Armstrong), Shawn La-
Vallie, Lacey Matula,
Donald Matula, Shelby
King (Ryu), Brittany Ortiz,
Destiny Morin, Austin Or-
tiz, Braydon Ortiz, Brean-
na Johnson, Mason Ortiz,
Brantley Erickson, and
Kannon Erickson; his
mother, Delores Johnson;
three siblings, Mark
(Phyllis) Johnson, Sheila
(Wayne) Jacobson, Gloria
Belisle; nieces, nephews;
other relatives and
friends. Terry is preceded
in death by his grandson,
Lucas Johnson and his fa-
ther, Albin Johnson.
Funeral services were
held at 2:00 p.m. Friday,
July 8th at Valle Lutheran
Church in Rolette with
private burial in the
Rolette Community
Cemetery at a later date.
Rev. Gene Wilson, Offici-
ating.
Organist: Diane Arstein
Casket Bearers: Daniel
Boucher, Mike Wendland,
Darrin Boucher, Bryce
Leonard, Everett Lervik
and Aaron Thompson
Arrangements with the
Anderson Funeral Home
of Rugby. Online
registry: www.funeralsbyanderson.com