Parnell Peterson Johnson (1920-1995)

Parnell was born October 30, 1920 and was raised on the family farm. She married Donald Arthur Johnson at her parents’ farm on June 6, 1942. Donald was in the Army for some of their first years of marriage and Parn really enjoyed the times they could spend together on the white sand beaches of Florida when Don was on furlough. Their first son, Peter, was born while Don was overseas. Later they had another son, Paul, and two daughters, Carol and Connie.

While the kids were young, Parn worked as a court reporter, receptionist for the county jail, and assistant to Judge Harry Gunderson at the courthouse in Grantsburg. Later, she worked transcribing medical records at the Grantsburg Clinic. She was still working there part-time when she was killed in a car accident September 19, 1995. She loved both jobs and enjoyed friendships at both places. She always looked professional and handled herself in a professional manner. Connie says she used to love visiting her mom at both jobs and seeing those “mysterious” places.

It has been said that Parn “could type up a storm” and for many years she typed the church bulletin that often was completed late on a Saturday night. Sometimes the process could be a real trial but Parn enjoyed it on the whole. She loved to take care of the church and would often stop to dust, touch up a bulletin board, or put something in order.

Parn loved to read and always had many things going at once. She scoured the newspaper and Christian magazines and was always up on the latest happenings. Although the Johnson’s never really had a garden of their own over the years, Parn enjoyed working in the garden as well as eating the various fruits and vegetables that were produced. Since she didn’t have a garden, she would often stop at one of her sisters and get her hands dirty pulling a few weeds or picking a few beans. Freezing some corn (usually from Sandberg’s garden) was an annual late summer activity for her.

Parn’s children remember her as being a stickler for having hair combed and faces clean when going to church or anywhere public. Paul remembers slimy stuff she used called “Wave Set” to get their hair to cooperate and it that didn’t work, a little saliva could be added to the mix and it would really hold.

They say she also had a great sense of hearing. In their teenage dating years, if the kids weren’t home by the appointed curfew hour they knew it was next to impossible to sneak in undetected. They didn’t always hear about it that night, but they knew that the activities of the next morning wouldn’t really get underway until they had explained their late arrival. Parn also had a “cough” that could be heard in almost any situation. Most often it was used when the kids were sitting somewhere other than with Parn and Don in church and were misbehaving in some way. If they heard the “cough” they knew they’d better shape up.

Parn was always doing something for someone less fortunate, behind the scenes—bringing a meal here or there. She loved to share with others, including her home and cabin at the lake. While everyone else was swimming or water skiing she was usually preparing something for everyone to eat. When she did take time to relax, she could spend hours out picking weeds in the lake or floating on an inner tube or air mattress.

Parn also could have a lot of fun. When friends and cousins spent the night at their house or tree house, she would bring them breakfast in bed (cinnamon toast according to one source). Parn enjoyed driving in the country, looking at old farmsteads and trips to Frederic for coffee and shopping.

In later years, she was an incredible caregiver to Don with his Parkinson’s disease. She devoted so much time and energy to caring for him at home that her children began to be concerned about her health. Once Don moved into the Extended Care Center in Grantsburg, she visited every day until her accident.

Complied from notes by Paul, Connie, and Anne Janda