Roger D. Johnson,
Sr.
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Obituary Roger Dean Johnson, Sr. was born to Emory and Dagmar (Rasmussen) Johnson on May 17, 1939 on a farm in York County, Nebraska. He passed away on February 20, 2017 at Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, Arizona. He was the fourth of five children. The farm where Roger was born was near the farm where he lived most of his life. It was the home where his father, Emory, was born. Roger later moved just just a half mile away when he purchased the farm of Arden and Eyvonne Johnson. Roger was baptized and confirmed in the Danish Lutheran Church in Cordova, Nebraska. Roger had a tractor accident when he was thirteen years old while he was driving it. The tractor ran over him causing back problems for the rest of his like. He graduated from Exeter High School in 1956. Following graduation from high school, he joined the Nebraska National Guard. Roger took his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In 1958 he married his high school sweetheart, Suzanne Barkmeier. Three children were born to this union. Roger was a farmer all his life. He started feeding cattle with his dad when he was still in high school. They fed together many years and later with his son, Roger Jr. This was the only occupation that he ever considered doing. He was a member of the Exeter Feeders and Breeders Association for several years and served on the Board of that organization. He won the tractor driving contest at the State Fair as a young man, and received a Young Farmer Award in his early years farming. Roger drove a truck to Omaha and St. Joseph, Missouri for Ralph Kubicek at an early age and also for S & A Trucking while he was farming. Roger served on the Board of the Cordova Elevator. He was a member of the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department for several years.
Roger enjoyed taking trips with his
RV with family and friends. In recent years he enjoyed traveling to a
warmer climate during the cold winter months in his fifth wheel RV.
Roger was preceded in death by his
son, Roger Dean Johnson, Jr., parents Emory and Dagmar Johnson, sister
Shirley Zimmer, brother Emory Allen Johnson, brothers-in-law Lee Zimmer,
Dean Weber and George (Milo) Springer. Roger is survived by his wife, Suzanne, of fifty-eight years; his daughters, Shari (Bill) Miller of Clay Center, Nebraska and Cynthia (Kent) Manning of Burress, Nebraska; and his daughter-in-law Margaret Johnson of Exeter, Nebraska. He was also proud of his eight grandchildren: Derek (Danielle) Miller of Lincoln, Nebraska; Shannon (Aaron) Tebo of Robinson, Texas; Jessica (Joseph) Fehlhafer of Friend, Nebraska; Keegan (Kathleen) Johnson of Lincoln, Nebraska; Elijah Johnson of Exeter, Nebraska; Tyler , Brooke and Mitchell Manning of Burress, Nebraska; and two great-grandchildren, Miller Tebo and Kal Johnson and he was looking forward to a baby girl this coming June. He is also survived by two sisters, Sylvia Springer of Sun City, Arizona and Marilyn (Alvin) Vyhnalek of Crete, Nebraska; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Barbara and Gale Heffelfinger of Exeter, Nebraska; and many nieces, nephews and friends.
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