Lloyd Karl Johnson

Lloyd Karl Johnson, 97, of Duluth, passed away peacefully at his Florida Keys home on Thursday, March 9, 2006. Lloyd was born on April 16, 1908, in Grand Marais, Minn., to Anna and Charles Johnson. Lloyd was valedictorian of his 1925 class at Cook County High School. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota in six years, receiving his LL.B. in 1931. Lloyd returned to Grand Marais and served as Cook County Attorney and started a real estate business with his uncle, A. Van Johnson. He spent a brief time in the Twin Cities, then came to Duluth in 1935, when he and classmate Ray Bruess opened an office on Michigan Street in downtown Duluth. During the 1930s and 40s, Johnson and Bruess acquired hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Northeastern Minnesota, cleared the titles, and sold the land to the U.S. Forest Service, helping to create what is now the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Water Canoe Area. Lloyd made several trips to Washington, D.C. to help persuade congress to appropriate the money to buy the land. In 1946, Lloyd and Duluth businessman Donald C. MacDonald started the company that became Superwood, which had five hardboard plants when they sold the company to Georgia Pacific in 1986. Lloyd and local contractor Bill Smith built the Mount Royal Shopping Center in 1958, adding to it over the years. Lloyd was a member of the American and Minnesota Bar Associations for more than 70 years. He belonged to the Kitchi Gammi Club and Northland Country Club. Lloyd was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Marion, in 1975; and his second wife, Dorothy, in 2000. He is survived by his sons, Tom of San Francisco, and Don of Duluth; his step-children Harold Knutson, Oakland, Calif.; Arlita Parsons, Duluth; Theodore Knutson, Duluth; Reena Dahl, Grand Rapids, Minn.; Dorothy Johnson, Duluth; Mary Collier, Moose Lake, Minn.; and David Knutson, Fairbanks, Alaska; and his close friend and business associate, Darryl Coons, Duluth. MEMORIAL SERVICE:Will be held at Lloyd's Florida Keys Home on Sunday, March 12. Funeral Service in Duluth will be 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 16 at Bell Brothers Jarvi-Dowd Funeral Home. A Brief service and interment will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, March 16 at the Maple Hill Church and cemetery near Grand Marais, Minn. Memorials may be directed to any charitable/foundation in Duluth or Grand Marais.