(Photo)

Dody was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota to Agnes Jensen and raised by her grandparents, Deppe and Anna Jensen. Her church home was Trinity Lutheran where she was baptized, confirmed and married.

She was a first generation American born into a large family of Danish immigrants. Her Danish heritage was important to her. Throughout her life she maintained friendships and connections from Dana College, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC) and family in Denmark.

Dody graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1944 and attended Dana College, Blair, NE for two years. It was there that she met seminarian Oscar Johnson, a first generation American from a Norwegian immigrant family.

They married on June 12, 1950, while Oscar was serving a UELC congregation in Avoca, IA. Subsequent parishes were in Detroit, MI; Harlan, IA; Carnegie, PA and chaplain of the Cedar Falls Lutheran Home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Dody always served as an integral part of each ministry.

In retirement, Dody and Oscar spent meaningful years in Cedar Falls and Iowa City, Iowa. Oscar died in 2008. In 2016 Dody moved to Blair so she could volunteer more often at the Danish American Archive and Library (DAAL), where she catalogued many obituaries and always appreciated ones with details of a well-lived life. Last September, she moved to Omaha to be closer to family.

School, church and community choirs, making quilts for Lutheran World Relief, hospitality, travel, women's church circles, reading, the DAAL, and frequent contact with family and friends were important in her life.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 58 years, daughter-in-law Judy, grandson Jason, and many family members. She is survived by her children and their families; Dave (Michele), Julianne (Sara Auman), Paul (Liz) and Andy (Kathy Gerking) and grandchildren Nathan, Kristina Johannesen (Waleed Hiasat), Jeremy Jensen (Rachel), Anna and Aaron (Erin Menardi) and great-grandchildren Ruby, Jason and Aurora, many extended family members and wonderful friends. Dody knew she was very blessed by all these relationship, especially, as she wrote, her "four thoughtful, loving and fun children and their families".

A celebration of life will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, January 11th at St. Timothy's Lutheran Church, 510 N. 93rd St. in Omaha. Visitation will be held on Friday the 10th from 3:00 - 6:00 PM at the Danish American Archive and Library, 1738 Washington St. in Blair, NE (68008).

The family plans to bury Dody and Oscar's mingled ashes at North Logan Cemetery, rural St. Paul, NE on June 12th, 2020, the 70th anniversary of their wedding.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Danish American Archive listed above or Lutheran World Relief, PO Box 17061, Baltimore, MD, 21297-1061.

#2-Published in the Omaha World Herald January 5, 2020

(Photo)

Johnson, Dolores R. "Dody" July 25, 1926 - January 1, 2020 Dody was born in Albert Lea, MN to Agnes Jensen and raised by her grandparents, Deppe and Anna Jensen. Her Church home was Trinity Lutheran where she was baptized, confirmed and married. She was a first generation American born into a large family of Danish immigrants. Her Danish heritage was important to her. Throughout her life she maintained friendships and connections from Dana College, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC), and family in Denmark. Dody graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1944 and attended Dana College, in Blair, NE for two years. It was there that she met seminarian Oscar Johnson, a first generation American from a Norwegian immigrant family. They married on June 12, 1950 while Oscar was serving a UELC congregation in Avoca, IA. Subsequent parishes were in Detroit, MI; Harlan, IA; Carnegie, PA and chaplain of the Cedar Falls Lutheran Home in Cedar Falls, IA. Dody always served as an integral part of each ministry. In retirement, Dody and Oscar spent meaningful years in Cedar Falls and Iowa City. Oscar died in 2008. In 2016 Dody moved to Blair so she could volunteer more often at the Danish American Archive and Library (DAAL), where she catalogued many obituaries and always appreciated ones with details of a well-lived life. Last September, she moved to Omaha to be closer to family. School, Church and community choirs, making quilts for Lutheran World Relief, hospitality, travel, Women's Church Circles, reading, the DAAL, and frequent contact with family and friends were important in her life. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 58 years; daughter-in-law, Judy Pollock; grandson, Jason Jensen; and many family members. She is survived by her children and their families: Dave (Michele), Julianne (Sara Auman), Paul (Liz), and Andy (Kathy Gerking); grandchildren, Nathan, Kristina Johannesen (Waleed Hiasat), Jeremy Jensen (Rachel), Anna and Aaron (Erin Menardi); and great-grandchildren, Ruby, Jason and Aurora; many extended family members and wonderful friends. Dody knew she was very blessed by all these relationship, especially, as she wrote, her "four thoughtful, loving and fun children and their families". A CELEBRATION of LIFE will be held at 10am on Saturday, January 11th, at St. Timothy's Lutheran Church, 510 N. 93rd St. in Omaha. VISITATION will be held on Friday the 10th from 3-6pm at the Danish American Archive and Library, 1738 Washington St. in Blair, NE (68008). The family plans to bury Dody and Oscar's mingled ashes at North Logan Cemetery, rural St. Paul, NE on June 12th, 2020, the 70th anniversary of their wedding. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Danish American Archive listed above, or Lutheran World Relief, PO Box 17061, Baltimore, MD, 21297-1061.

#3 From the Sept-Dec. 2019 Jottings, a publication of the Danish American Archive and Library, Blair, Nebraska

(photos)

In Memoriam: Dolores (Dody) Jensen Johnson (1926-2020)

The Danish American Archive and Library lost a true pioneer when Dody Johnson passed away on January 1, 2020. One of her final requests, to make her last two 2019 50-100 Club payments, shows her extraordinary dedication to the DAAL.

Dody organized our spring and fall volunteer program in 1991 when we were still located at Dana College, and managed it from then through Fall Volunteer Week in 2019. Simply put, we would not exist without our volunteers from this area and from around the country.

She was a long-time DAAL volunteer and mother of current board member Dave Johnson and former board member Paul Johnson. Daughter Julie participates in the volunteer weeks as well.

For years Dody’s main focus was on cataloging the thousands of obituaries about Danish Americans that we continue to receive. Fran Anderson, who has worked with Dody on the obituary project since 2012, had this to say, “We are going to miss her terribly. She was a delight to work with, and she had a wealth of information about the people, families and even the towns we came across in our work. Whenever we had a question about a person or a place, she almost always had the answer right from the top of her head.”

Executive Director Emeritus John W. Nielsen, who knew Dody from when they were children, said, “We knew each other too well not to see through any undue praise or blame. We knew each other’s faults, and it didn’t spoil our friendship of 90 years.”

We are honored that Dody’s family chose to hold a visitation for her here at the DAAL on Friday, January 10 from three to six p.m. We displayed some of the many photos of Dody from our files that depicted her years of service here.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #205973396