Clifford Johnson

Clifford "Gene" Johnson was born December 28, 1935 in Fergus Falls, MN to Melvin and Esther (Gunvaldson) Johnson. He was raised on the family farm near Mooreton, ND. He went to grade school in Mooreton and attended Wahpeton High School, where he met a red haired, freckled beauty named Diana Strubel.

In June of 1956, he married Diana and they moved to a farm 2 1/2 miles east of Great Bend, ND. They had two children, Chris and Elizabeth.

He farmed with his brother Gordon and operated the Great Bend Lockers with Diana and her parents, Robert and Luella Strubel.

In the winters he started teaching classes at the North Dakota School of Science in Wahpeton. Eventually he taught there full time and was an instructor in the Welding, Machine Tool and Diesel departments.

In 1989, they moved to Union, WA to help his brother, Dick with his excavation business and later was employed with the Hood Canal Telephone Company.

Gene was considered a "jack of all trades". He was an excellent mechanic, welder, bodyman, carpenter, butcher and farmer. There was never a task he wouldn't tackle no matter how difficult or complicated. He also enjoyed Harley Davidson motorcycles and Ford pickup trucks.

Diana passed away in July 2007. Gene moved back to Great Bend to live the summers with his son Chris and winters with his daughter Elizabeth near Edmond, OK. The last two years he resided at St Francis Healthcare in Breckenridge, MN.

He is survived by his son, Chris (Suzanne) Johnson of Great Bend and their daughters, Kaytlyn, Courtney, and Sydney Johnson . His daughter, Elizabeth (Jerome) Borgert of Arcadia, OK and their daughters, Stephanie(Taylor) Baird, Kirsten(Jordan) Stover, and Anna Borgert.
His brothers, Gordon (Muriel) Johnson of Mooreton, Richard (Joycelyn) Johnson, Union WA and his sister, Joyce Devries of Wahpeton.

He was preceded in death by his wife Diana, his parents Melvin and Esther Johnson, in-laws Robert and Luella Strubel and an infant sister Mary.