Florence Frances Johnson, was born on April 3, 1918, to William and Helen (Parker) Coles, in Kinning Twp, McKenzie Co., ND. The family lived in Montana when she was a small child un l Helen and the girls, Florence, Edith and Gladys returned to McKenzie Co. in the early 1920s. While her mother worked as a cook on a ranch, Florence lived with her maternal grandparents, William F and Ada Par‐
ker, in the Kinning community un l she started school. Her mother married David Gamache, a widower with 4 children. They lived in the Banks area on various farms during her growing up years. She and her sisters had chores to do before walking to the one‐room country school they a ended. She also a ended one year at Wa ord City High School. Florence talked of herding sheep for her step‐father, going a er water with a team and wagon, helping care for her younger sisters, Vera and Elise, and li le brother Buddy Gamache, and the difficult me of living through the depression. On July 20, 1939, she married William Ivan Johnson at her parent’s home in the Banks community. Their first home was a li le log house down by the Missouri River. They lived for a me in the same house they were married in a er her parents moved elsewhere. Then they lived at the O’Grady place. Wm. Ivan and Florence became the parents of 4 children, Allen (Shorty), Claudia, Judy, and Wm. Dale. In 1946, they moved to the farm east of Wa ord City where they made their home un l Ivan’s death in 2000. Florence then moved into town to live with her son Allen (Shorty) un l she entered the Good Shepherd Home in 2007. Florence was an excellent seamstress, like to crochet, paint pictures, wri ng poetry, doing cra s with beads and other materials. While at Good Shep‐
herd, Florence was known to keep herself busy with her cra s and croche ng, al‐
ways making items for friends and members of the staff who knew her to be sweet and personable. She spent hours listening to her favorite Daniel O’Donnell cds as she worked away at her handy work. She also loved bu erflies, blue birds, music by Jim Reeves and Charley Pride. Many family members and friends enjoyed the poems she mailed out with Christmas cards. Florence passed away peacefully early Sunday morning, April 7, 2013, at the Good Shepherd Home with her daughter Claudia, her sisters Elise and Vera, nieces Linda and Carolyn at her side. Florence is survived by: two daughters, Claudia (David) Fisketjon‐Evans, Bismarck, ND and Judy Okland, Wa ord City, ND; two sons, William Dale (Sabrina) Johnson, St Paul , MN and Allen “Shorty” Johnson of Wa ord City, ND; five grand‐
sons, Craig (Brenda) Fisketjon, Chris Fisketjon, Shannon (Julie) Hammeren, Darin Okland, and Steven (Kim) Peterson; three great grandsons, Cody Fisketjon , Grant William Peterson, and Eric William Hammeren; five great‐granddaughters, Bre Fisketjon, Alyx Fisketjon, Emily Hammeren, Ka e Hammeren, and Claire Peterson; one great great grandson, Caidyn Fisketjon (son of Cody); two sisters, Elise Ren‐
barger, Wa ord City, ND and Vera Kite, Vancouver, WA; three brothers‐in‐law, Willis “Bill” Johnson, Chico, CA, Bob Johnson, Rome, GA, Raymond Johnson, Libby, MT; numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; step children of Wm Dale Johnson, Michele, Jennie, and Jordan are Sabrina’s (Dale’s wife) children. She was preceded in death by: her husband of 61 years, Wm Ivan Johnson; her mother, Helen Gamache; step‐father, David Gamache; father, William Coles; sisters, Edith Blake, Gladys Ellingson; brother, Norman “Buddy” Gamache; sons‐in‐
law, Earl Fisketjon, Arnold Hammeren, and Duane Okland; brothers‐in‐law, Vernon Renbarger, Joe Kite, Ted Blake, Merlyn Ellingson, Gayland, Jim, Don and Joe John‐
son; her Johnson sisters‐in‐law, Evelyn, Edith, Marion, Ruth and Diane (Buddy) Gamache. In Loving Memory
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April 3, 1918 ~ April 7, 2013
Florence F. Johnson
'God saw she was getting tired, and a cure was not to be,
So He put his arms around her and whispered, "Come with Me,"
With tearful eyes, we watched her suffer and saw her fade away
Although we loved her dearly, we could not make her stay.
Her golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best.'
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in
me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so,
I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.”
John 14: 1-3
Born
April 3, 1918
Kinning Township, McKenzie Co., ND
Died
April 7, 2013
Watford City, North Dakota
Funeral Service
2:00 PM, Friday, April 12, 2013
The Good Shepherd Home
Watford City, North Dakota
Officiating
Pastor Rob Favorite
Music
“Peace in the Valley” I’ll Fly Away”
“Far Side Banks of Jordan”
Casketbearers
Craig Fisketjon Darin Okland Steven Peterson
Shannon Hammeren Cody Fisketjon Joe Weltzin
Honorary Casketbearers
Chris Fisketjon Brett Fisketjon Alyx Fisketjon
Caidyn Fisketjon Emily Hammeren Katie Hammeren
Eric Hammeren Claire Peterson Grant Peterson
Interment
Banks Cemetery
Banks, North Dakota
Coffee and cookies will be served
following services
You may share your remembrances and condolences
with the family at the Fulkerson Funeral Home website
www.fulkersons.com