Lorna Johnson

Lorna Maxine (Loken) Johnson, 89, passed away on September 3, 2022, at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. Services will be Friday, September 9, 2022, at 11 a.m. at Quale Lutheran Church, rural Fordville, North Dakota. Visitation will be September 8 from 5-7 p.m. at Amundson Funeral Home, Grand Forks, and 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on September 9, before the service at the church, with a burial and lunch immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Quale Lutheran Church’s general purpose fund.

Lorna was born to Mandt and Caroline (Linstad) Loken on February 4, 1933, near Dahlen, where she grew up. Her amazing life was grounded in two forces: faith and family.

She was baptized and confirmed at Quale Lutheran (as were her children) and was a life-long member. With the Quale community’s influence and her family’s steadfast beliefs, Lorna formed a strong relationship with the Lord. It took her through life’s many ups and downs, providing immense comfort, all the way through her last day, when she prayed with family, recited the 23rd Psalm, and expressed her readiness to be with Jesus.

Her devotion to her family was just as strong. She had close relationships throughout her life with her parents – she remembered cooking with her mom and listening to FDR’s radio addresses with her dad. She was also close with her four siblings and their spouses. In fact, after graduating from high school, Lorna lived with her sister Cora and her husband and took a job in Grand Forks.

She went to Dahlen schools, graduating from the high school in 1950. While there, Lorna was No. 8 on the Dahlen Dragons girls basketball team. As a girl, Lorna knew the neighboring Johnson family, as her father was best friends with John I. Johnson. John I.’s charming son Oliver took a liking to Lorna. When they grew older, Oliver and Lorna dated and held hands (as they would throughout their almost 71-year marriage). He proposed to her after a date at the Grand Forks County Fair, and they were married on October 7, 1951, at Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, where Oliver was stationed in the Army. Lorna took a train from Grand Forks to Texas to meet her groom and was married in a purple suit.

When Oliver returned home, he and Lorna moved to the family farm near Dahlen. There they raised wheat, cattle, and their four children – Michael, Gordon, Gary, and Michele.

She loved raising her kids – and later grandkids and great-grandkids – on the farm. She had her first three before running water was installed and noted that one of the happiest moments of her life was bringing home her baby girl (whom she referred to throughout her life as Little Susie, an endearment she would later apply to her granddaughters as well) to a house with modern conveniences. After her brother Melvin passed away, Lorna and Oliver would host his twin sons, Dean and Dana, on the farm in the summers.

Lorna was an active farm wife – she could drive a grain truck but preferred the combine. She made delicious meals and was especially known for her Norwegian specialties, including rommegrot, krumkake, sandbakkels, rosettes, lefsa, meatballs and gravy, and her homemade buns. She also had a jar of lemon sandwich cookies in the kitchen, which each grandchild and great-grandchild enjoyed upon a visit. Her house was always ready to receive visitors for coffee. In fact, she hosted a coffee party for her long-time friends June, Evie, and Carol just a few weeks before her death. Her legacy lives on in church cookbooks throughout the region.

Her food was so good that it once stopped her sons from running away. As children, they told her of their plan to run away, and she sent them off with a delicious packed lunch. A little ways down the road (while Lorna was still watching), they sat down, ate their lunch, realized how good they had it, and returned home to her loving arms.

She loved to speak Norwegian to her children, calling them good boys or a good girl or, their favorite, “you’re being foxy!”

As time went on, the next generation of children came to the farm, and she was always there to tend to the scraped knees, feverish foreheads or runny noses of her six grandchildren. From her view from the farm’s big kitchen window, Lorna supervised family sleigh rides in their antique bobsled. One of her great joys was seeing her grandson and his wife living on the family farm and raising the next Johnson generation there.

She was exceptionally close to her children, speaking with each of them nearly every day. She was a constant influence on her grandchildren, and she was very happy to also be close to their mothers and spouses. Her great-grandchildren brought a special light to her life, whether it was watching John and Jack’s baseball games, catching up with Rocco and Rev on the farm, engaging in spirited discussions with Marlee Lorna, or cooing over Henry and Andi, her newest great-grandchild.

All of this love was possible because it came from such a firm foundation – her relationship with her husband, Oliver. Their marriage is one for the ages, based on faith, conversation, mutual respect, friendship, humor, care, and above all else, love. She was a firm believer in eating before bed, so Oliver would sweetly deliver an ice cream cone to his bride in her recliner.

Lorna was active in the Quale Lutheran Church WELCA and the American Legion Auxiliary. She was also active as a 4-H and Luther League mother.

In later years, when she and Oliver retired to a townhouse in Grand Forks, she enjoyed the views from her quiet corner near the Ray Richards golf course and the benefits of being in town. She could be seen going to get the mail, sporting an Adidas track suit and a smile and a wave for her neighbors. She especially enjoyed her neighbors Bonnie and Gayle, who were always there to help or brighten the day, and niece Myrna, who was always just a phone call away.

Grateful to have shared Lorna’s life are her husband Oliver; four children, Michael of Fordville, Gordon (Debbie) of Fordville, Gary (Kristi) of Devils Lake, Michele of Washington, D.C.; grandchildren, Justin Johnson (Jessica) of Reynolds, Kayla Johnson of Los Angeles, Calif., Greg Johnson of Grand Forks, Ashley Waddell (Harold) of Crescent, Iowa, Brittany Huffman (Dennis) of Devils Lake, and Ross Johnson (Nicole) of Fordville; great grandchildren, John Johnson, Jack Johnson, Marlee Lorna Waddell, Rocco Johnson, Henry Huffman, Rev Johnson and Andi Huffman; several nieces, nephews, cousins, godchildren and her sister-in-law Ila Loken (Duane) of Arizona.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Cora Warner (Wallace), Clifford Loken (Betty), Melvin Loken (Irene), and Duane Loken.