OBITUARY/EULOGY FOR HOWARD

It is a week today since we gathered to mourn the loss of our beloved Howard and to celebrate his life.  My post today will be the obituary/eulogy that Kirk shared at the funeral service.  Close to two hundred and fifty people gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church that morning, evidence of the impact he had on so many lives.  Most spoke of him as a gentle, thoughtful man with a beautiful tenor voice and an encouraging word for everyone he met.  Blessed be his memory.

OBITUARY/EULOGY FOR HOWARD

as compiled by his family and read by son Kirk

Howard Bennard Johnson was born on the farm south of Torquay, SE-15-1-12 West of 2^nd, on August 11, 1935. He died on May 17, 2012 at St. Joseph's Special Care Home in Estevan, SK with family members by his side.

Howard was the second child born to Horace and Clara Johnson. He lost his older sister Doris to a ruptured appendix in January 1940 when she was nine years old. His younger sister Ardis was born on September 7^th of that same year. Howard lost his mother to a brain tumor in 1958 when she was only fifty-four years old. She was a great influence in Howard's life and he often quoted his mom's words of wisdom. Horace passed away at the age of eighty in October of 1981 after a battle with cancer

Howard was baptised and confirmed at Salem Lutheran Church, which is less than two miles from the home farm. He took his schooling at Tenold school, completing his grade ten. Tenold School was only ¼ mile south of the Johnson farm. Cops and Robbers, Anti-I over, and building snow forts were some good memories. He later completed his grade 11 and 12 in Torquay and received his high school diploma, which he was very proud of (the certificate is in mint condition ) Not many people could say they were born, baptised, confirmed, educated and worked, all within two miles.

After grade12 he attended winter sessions at LCBI in Outlook and CLBI in Camrose. He always spoke highly of his time at LCBI and he helped create a Johnson legacy as his four children received their Grade 12 education there. After LCBI he completed a barbering course in Regina. On the first day his instructor held up a pair of scissors and told the class “You can build a house with a pair of these!” He later worked part time in Torquay on Main Street. There is one of his pens on display at the back that says “If your hair isn't becoming to you, YOU should be coming to Howard Johnson.”

“Go west young man!” Howard went west to find the best girl. Elaine Erickson was introduced to Howard in Swift Current by his cousin, Dave Bergum. Shortly after they met they started comparing birthdays and soon realized that Howard shared the same birthday as Elaine's Mom, August 11^th. Elaine's birthday, Feb 10^th, is the same date as Howard's mom's birthday. Elaine still talks about the dates being a sign from God!

They were married in Frontier on July 23^rd 1966, on the 25^th anniversary of Elaine's parents Milford and Hulda Erickson.

Howard and Elaine made their home on the family farm on SE 16-1-2. It was the perfect place to make a living and raise a family. Laurel Sandra was born in December 1968, Clare Howard in September 1970, Kirk Leonard in March 1972 and Todd Erick in April 1977. Us kids were lucky to have lots of good neighbors growing up on the farm. Dad always made sure we had bikes, and three wheelers to get over to the neighbors for football and hockey games. Lots of trips were made to Hurren's and Daae's for Rook games, visiting, singing, and fellowship. Sundays were a day of rest for Dad and he rarely worked a Sunday. Many Sundays were spent at the “old Mainprize Park” or at the swimming pool in Crosby.

We took many family vacations as kids and Dad always made the best of the them. Many of the best memories were shorter trips in our Ford van to our cousins in Frontier, Saskatoon and Edmonton. In 1983 we did it up right and flew to Disneyland with the Merv Erickson family. We saw it all including Sea World, Knotts Berry Farm, the Queen Mary, Universal Studios, and of course Disneyland. 1988 was a Johnson classic. All six of us went to the Black Hills in the van and a big tent, We saw all the sights, and when our camping trip was coming to an end we came to a campground in Rapid City that had gravel camp sights, trees three feet tall, and it was also 100 degrees. Mom and Dad quickly changed the plan and we stayed in a suite at “The Howard Johnson Hotel” Boy that water felt nice! In 2006 our whole family and grandkids stayed at “the Swantz Cabin” on Lake 5 just outside of Glacier National Park, a real paradise!  Mom and Dad celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary there.

Mom and Dad also took four trips to Norway in the past seven years. These trips were special as the Johnson and Erickson families are descendants of Norwegians. They were made extra special as Todd and Kristy live there and helped plan their agenda, look up relatives and historic sights. One of Dad's favorite caps was his Norway cap! Todd and Dad were real buddies on these trips. On one trip Todd surprised him with a trip to Paris France for the “World Airshow.” They saw all the sights and Todd video taped a lot of the highlights, and made a very touching video that we all watched a couple months ago

Howard was blessed with a wonderful tenor voice. He was a tremendous singer and was well known for his singing talents and often sang at weddings, funerals and at some provincial hockey games. With the help of the Daae family he recorded some CD's along with Mom, Laurel, Clare, Todd and Kristy. Since Dad was the best singer we knew, some of the music you have heard today is him singing on this CD. He once told Todd he should've “sold the land, gone to Europe and studied music.” We have so many memories of him singing in the house, at church or at the neighbors. We are so thankful that we have the CDs with his beautiful voice

On Sunday Pastor Danny came to the farm and met with our family. He asked the question, “What made Howard unique?” The answer was easy -sense of humour! When he was on his game there was nobody funnier and he could make us laugh until we had tears in our eyes. He could impersonate dozens of people. Some of his best were local people, and some are probably sitting in this church! He had such a good memory for detail and he could impersonate a person's laugh, his walk, their favorite 

sayings, and their voice.. His best performances were usually saved for a small audience of our friends who always liked riding to a sporting event with Dad to hear the entertainment! “Say it Howard!”

He always liked to serve and help. Dad's program for any guest leaving the farm was “Let me check the oil.” Then he would proceed to clean the back window, offer to fill up the tank with gas, clean your mirrors, then open his wallet and wave a twenty dollar bill at you. “Come on,take it!”

Here are some of the other answers that our family came up with:

-always wore a shirt and tie to church, was very particular about how he dressed, shoes were polished, hair was combed. Clare, Kirk, and Todd are all wearing one of Dad's ties today. He loved red so we each have some red in our ties.

-made popcorn on Saturday nights and brought it downstairs with a treat of root beer or orange crush.

-loved watching Bonanza on Sunday nights. NBC Williston had the reruns on in the 80's and 90's and we would always watch them. He always like the episodes when Hoss or Little Joe would end up in a fight

-really enjoyed local sporting events, loved watching fastball games, hockey games, and volleyball games. He always liked talking about these games. He could remember tremendous details about these games, more than who won or lost. He always remembered how the pitcher would grab his cap, or how the umpire called the game or blew a call

-loved to visit with people, always called people by their name. He always knew the parts man behind the counter, the fuel truck driver, and loved asking questions. One time on a family holiday to Fernie we were visiting with one of mom's friends and we counted fifty questions in an hour and a half

-always gave sincere compliments to people, made people feel good about themselves. He liked giving compliments but often had trouble taking one. Lots of times after singing, someone would say what a nice job he did, but often he would say “ I could do it better, or I missed one note.”

-loved lots of detail on airplanes, ships, trains and famous buildings. Ask him the seating capacity of a 747, he knew it. He knew exactly how many feet the Titanic was, even paced it out south of our house to the old well so we could understand how big it was. Sears Tower, Hoover Dam, Boeing Plant - if you needed to know, Dad was your guy. He always liked looking up facts and figures in the encyclopedia.

-a breakdown at seeding or harvest meant a trip to Estevan or Crosby, That meant he would bring back a treat. Milkshakes or a bottle of root beer were the favorites

-loved seeing his kids have fun. One time at West Edmonton Mall with his nephew Kris and Todd he thought the kids would enjoy the Dragon Boat Ride. They even sat right at the back and a few minutes later Dad let out a famous quote “STOP THE RIDE!”

-Dad was fortunate to travel, He got to visit Norway four times along with side trips to Sweden, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom. Just two years ago he and Mom were on a Mediterranean cruise with Todd and Kristy with visits to Italy, Africa and Spain.

In closing, Dad's faith in God was his foundation and he expressed this so beautifully through his prayers, his music and his life. 

He has seven grandkids - Dawson, Abbey, Carter, Eric, Lindsay, Jamie and Ashley. An eighth is due for Todd and Kristy at the end of August. These kids lit up his eyes the last few years and I'd like to call upon Lindsay (eight years old) to read the letter that she wrote to Grandpa.