In Honour of My Dad and to mark our family’s grieving …
Obituary
‘Carl Edward Johnson
Feb. 19, 1922 – Mar. 29, 2017
A few weeks after celebrating his 95th birthday, Carl Edward Johnson died March 29, 2017, in Surrey, BC. Not only did he not die in hospital, but wasn’t born in one either, rather on his parents’ homestead near Kinsella, AB, where he was next to the youngest of eight children. Growing up with little money and no electricity, Carl was exempt from military service to work on the farm, still ploughing with horses, and he recalled the best entertainment was when they could persuade his father Eric Johnson to play his violin or harmonica. He credits his mother Anna as a strong influence for patience and godliness, and his mixed Swedish Norwegian parentage for his string of Sven and Ole humour. Speaking dialect, Carl would say, “Out fishing, Ole catches a big one and Sven tells him, mark duh side of duh boat vid dis chalk, so ve come back here next veek!”
Carl left home to study in Camrose, AB, where he met and married Renata Wenzel in 1944. He worked as a carpenter and went on to Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, SK, in 1948 where he built a small house for his growing family. Ordained a pastor in 1951, Carl served parishes in Strasbourg, SK, Dawson Creek, BC, Camrose, AB, Burns Lake, BC, Ft. St. John, BC, New Westminster, BC, and Scandia, AB, before retiring in 1984. Always a faithful servant of the church, he was eager to ‘put the most charitable construction’ on what others did, and to bring people together.
Three children were born to Carl and Renata along the way. Carl and Renata made their retirement home in New Westminster, BC, and traveled across Canada, the United States, and to Israel and Germany, places they’d only imagined most of their lives.
After 52 years of marriage, Renata died in 1996, and Carl remarried to Gladys Davidson in 1998, bringing together 3 adult children from each family, along with spouses and grandchildren. Carl and Gladys lived in her house in Burnaby, BC, and enjoyed travels with the motor home they bought together until illness took them to Rosemary Heights Seniors Village in Surrey, BC, in 2010. Carl adjusted gracefully to his declining abilities, but macular degeneration took away the lifelong pleasure he found in reading. Still, he always had encouraging words for his family and those around him.
Carl is survived by his youngest sibling, Mary Finseth of Tofield, AB, by his wife Gladys Davidson, and by his and Renata’s 3 children, Daniel Johnson of Houston, TX, Tim Johnson of Abbotsford, BC, and Zoey Ruth Johnson Ryan of Tsawwassen, BC, and their spouses Diane Persson, Bev Weidman, and Wayne Ryan. Also grandchildren Nils Johnson, Britta Hollrah, David Johnson, Drew Johnson, Kaitlin Ryan, Savanna Ryan, and Delaney Ryan, and great grandchildren Sophia, Isabel, Annette, Zell, and Madz.
Carl Edward Johnson, a life lived long and well, from farming with horses to fisher of men to the 21st century as the oldest of anyone in the history of his family.’
My youngest daughter is in her final year studying anthropology and archaeology and in a recent class on ‘rituals and meaning’ said that ‘funerals’ and the grieving period is a key ritual around the world, crossing all cultures and religions. While we all grieve differently perhaps, it is an important time for family to come together to remember and say goodbye.