Dolores "Dody" R. Jensen Johnson
January 7, 2020
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 relationships, 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.
