Wilbur Wendell Johnson

ASHTON, Idaho - Wilbur Wendell Johnson, age 93, died August 30, 2003, at the Ashton Living Center in Ashton, Idaho. Wilbur was a longtime resident of Rapid City. Wilbur was born October 17, 1909, in Island Lake, North Dakota, the seventh of eleven children born to Edward P. and Eliza C. Johnson. After the untimely death of his father, the family moved to Sturgis, South Dakota. Wilbur graduated from Sturgis High School in 1927 and married Margaret Leigh Miller in Sturgis in 1931. They ranched and worked various other jobs around Faith, South Dakota, in the early years of their marriage. In 1936, he went to work for the Tri-State Milling Company in Rapid City as a grain buyer and grain elevator manager. There he remained until 1951, except for an 18-month stint as a government grain inspector in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1951, he bought a hardware store in Huron, South Dakota, which the family operated until 1954. After the hardware store was sold, the family moved to Fairview, Montana, where Wilbur bought grain and sold feed and fertilizer for ten years. Wilbur remained rooted in the West River country, even though there were many moves around the country in the process of raising a family and making a living. Wilbur returned to the Rapid City house at 823 St. James in 1964 and worked for the Pennington County Assessors office until he retired in 1974. There he lived until health considerations dictated moving, first to assisted living at Primrose in Rapid City, and then to the Ashton Living Center in October of 2002. Wilbur (Bill) enjoyed hunting and fishing. He loved to sing. Where ever he moved, the church choir was blessed to get his fine tenor voice. He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Rapid City. He also belonged to the Rapid City Barber Shoppers and the Canyon Lake Senior Citizens. Wilbur and Margaret are the parents of four children: Kay (Ed) Hammler of Havre, Montana; Joy (Gene) Messier, deceased; Larry (Joyce) Johnson of Island Park, Idaho; and Wilma (David) Hovland of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They have 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Wilbur is preceded in death by his parents, 9 brothers and sisters and one daughter. He is survived by his wife of almost 72 years, Margaret Johnson of Island Park, Idaho, and his sister Dorothy (Roy) Dennis of Sturgis, South Dakota. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5th, at the First Baptist Church in Rapid City, with Rev. Arthur Johns officiating. His request to be cremated has been honored, and inurnment will be at Mountain View Cemetery. Services are under the direction of the Osheim-Catron Funeral Home.