Gregory Johnson, age 69, of Huron, died Wednesday, January 31, 2018, due to a motor vehicle accident. His funeral service was held at 10:30 AM, Friday, February 9th at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. Burial of his cremated remains will be at the Black Hills National Cemetery with military honors at a later date.
Gregory Lester Johnson was born March 12, 1948, to Lester Olaf and Lyla Mae (Altepeter) Johnson at Crookston, Minnesota. He attended Crookston area schools and graduated from Crookston High School in 1966. He continued his education at Moorhead State University at Moorhead, Minnesota where he earned a double major bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology with Construction Management and Business Administration.
Greg joined the United States Navy in 1967. He was full time active duty until 1971. He was honorably discharged from active duty and he joined the Navy Reserves. He returned to active duty to assist state side during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield. He was honorably discharged from the Navy as an Reserve Hospital Corpsman First Class (HM1)on March 30, 1991. During his time with the Navy, Greg received honors for his pistol expertise and rifle sharpshooter.
On November 27, 1976, Greg married Claudia Lockhart at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at Frazee, Minnesota.
Using his degree in construction management, Greg worked as a construction foreman for EID Construction Company at Moorhead, Minnesota, then a field engineer for Webster Construction Company at Fort Dodge, Iowa. He later worked at Cliff's Building Supplies at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and then a child support officer for the Pennington County Welfare Department at Thief River Falls, Minnesota. In 1992, Greg became a construction analyst for the USDA Rural Development state office at Huron, South Dakota. He retired from that position in 2009.
Greg was an active member of the Virgil American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 14 and Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church.
He was involved with the Boy Scouts program while his sons were involved at Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Greg enjoyed working on his hobby farm, as well as deer hunting and fishing. Most of all, he loved his children and spending time with his grandchildren.
Greg was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister, Louise Johnson in 1972.
Grateful for having shared in his life are his wife, Claudia Johnson of Huron; seven children, Nicole Irelan of Crookston, Minnesota, Shannon (Fatima) Johnson of Sioux Falls, Wendilee (Joe) Solomon of Fargo, North Dakota, Shawn (Kelsey Vacha) Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska, Stephanie (Trevor) Gerrits of Huron, Gregory Shane (Sheena) Johnson of Middle Grove, New York, and Timothy (Alicia) Johnson of Gulf Port, Mississippi; fourteen grandchildren, Amanda Spenst, Desirae Seeger, Dallas Seeger, Leo Johnson, Bailey Solomon, Dawson Solomon, Mykaila Solomon, Logan Gerrits, Evan Gerrits, Dilan Gerrits, Erik Reekie, Aidan Reekie-Mell, Liliana Johnson, Timothy (Timo) Johnson, and two more grandchildren on the way; and four great-grandchildren, Hayley Meier, Landon Meier, Leah Lee and Brantley Avritt.
Greg is also survived by his uncle, James (Twylla) Altepeter of Crookston, Minnesota; his aunt, Marilyn Schulz of Crookston, Minnesota; six siblings, Delphine (Larry) Hanson of Osage, Minnesota, Jennifer Erickson of West Fargo, North Dakota, Stanton (Christina) Johnson of Lynd, Minnesota, Cynthia Alfaro of McKinney, Texas, Richard (Eva Bruns) Johnson of Lynd, Minnesota and Eugene Johnson of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; and many nieces and nephews.