pril 21, 1928 — October 19, 2021
Funeral services for Walter Ross Johnson, 93, of Firesteel were held Monday, October 25, 2021 at the United Parish in Timber Lake. Burial was in the Timber Lake Cemetery.
Walter Ross Johnson was born in 1928 to Julius and Trina (Fagerli) Johnson, the youngest of nine children. Walter’s family lived in Miscol, a short-lived settlement north of Firesteel. The family farmed, ranched, and mined coal in the years that followed. As Walt’s brother Loyd said, “We worked in the mine in the winter to get enough money to farm in the spring.”
In 1945, Walter returned to help with the Firesteel farm after several years of high school at Augustana Academy in Canton. He finished his senior year at Timber Lake and graduated in 1946.
After Walter’s brother Ralph returned home from the Army, they began a partnership that lasted the next 30 years, ending with Ralph’s death in 1978.
It was while living with Ralph’s family that Walter met Lois Kratzer, who came to South Dakota to teach Bible School to the four churches in the Lutheran Air Parish. During that time, she boarded with Ralph’s family. In the fall of 1949, Walter and Lois were married in Lois’s home state of Ohio.
Walter and Lois’s first house did not have electricity. “Lois learned to like this country,” Walt said, “And we had so much snow she couldn’t leave.” After surviving the winter of 1949-50, their home was connected to the new Moreau-Grand Electric Co-op line.
In 1958, Walter and Lois purchased what became their permanent residence from Andor and Karen Pederson. At the time, Andor told Walt, “I lived here for forty years, now you can live here forty years!” Indeed, for the rest of his life, the farm was never far from Walt’s mind.
Together, Walt and Lois raised two sons, Kevin and Terry, and a daughter Laurel.
Walter was a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, which later became the Timber Lake United Parish. He served in all offices on the church council. He worked with the Dewey County Crop Improvement Association Board, participated in the State Crop Improvement Association, and helped the county FSA board. Walt also contributed to the Mobridge Regional Hospital board for eight years, overseeing a clinic move and a new hospital addition. Later, during his many roles with the Timber Lake Historical Society, he helped see the town’s library/museum built, the larger area museum expansion, and blacksmith shop.
The South Dakota winters eventually drove Walter and Lois to spend some time in Apache Junction, AZ, where they enjoyed the activities and people just as much as the weather.
Walter was known for his wry sense of humor. Referring to him and his wife in 2010, he wrote, “The Bible says that I shall become one flesh. We find at the age of 80 that it takes the two of us to make one.”
In the same piece, he added, “The Johnson history will continue with the next generation.”
Walter died late on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 in the Walworth County Care Center in Selby.
He is survived by his sister, Ella Borge; sons Kevin (Margie) Johnson and Terry (Alyce) Johnson of Firesteel; a daughter Laurel (Gene) Reinbold of Timber Lake; nine grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, four sisters, his wife Lois, one grandchild, and one great-grandchild.
(The Johnson family’s address is 13184 241 Ave., Firesteel SD 57633.)