Verna Johnson

Verna Deloris Johnson, 100, of Glasgow died at her home Jan. 3, 2021.

She was born to Ada (Simard) and Austin Iwen on Sept. 3, 1920, in Bainville. She was the eldest of nine children, with four brothers and four sisters. She attended school in Bainville through her junior year of high school and then transferred to Froid for her senior year.

She met her husband, Gilman Johnson, when he was working on her parents’ farm near Froid. The couple married May 3, 1939, and together they raised four children: Korene Anderson of Glasgow, Dale of Helena, Dallas of Bozeman and Dean of Glendive.

Gil and Verna lived in Froid until 1943 when they moved to Glasgow where he worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a brakeman. He was drafted into the Navy in 1944. Verna and the children moved to Wolf Point for the duration of the war to live near her parents and to give birth to Dean. After the war, the family moved back to Glasgow in 1945.

She was an exceptionally loving and devoted wife and mother, spending most of her adult life as a homemaker. In her unassuming way, she was an excellent role model and a guiding force in her family. She always planted a large garden and was an expert baker, a skill she learned from her mother, “Ma” Iwen, who was famous for her pies at Iwen’s Hi-Way Market in Wolf Point.

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, she was active in the PTA and was a member of the Glasgow Scottie Band Boosters, a group of the band mothers whose primary purpose was to raise money for the band trips and to buy uniforms. After her youngest son entered high school, she worked at the Glasgow Sears store in customer service and later in the accounts department. She was also an active member of the Glasgow Soroptimists Club.

She is survived by her four children; sister, Delcie Ray of Tehachipi, Calif.; brother, Bud Iwen of Helena; 13 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Gilman Johnson; two sisters, Ladonna Sell and Eleanor Spitzer; and brothers, Ben, Darrell, Jiggs and Donny Iwen.

She loved her home and her independence and refused to even consider moving to assisted living or to a nursing home. She was able to accomplish her wishes only with the devoted assistance of her caretakers: Cindy LaRoche, Mavis Orvis and recently Cecelia Montoya.

Burial was in Highland Cemetery in Glasgow limited to immediate family only due to COVID.