Vivian E. Johnson

Vivian E. Johnson, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2021 at Villa Marina Health and Rehab facility. Vivian lived most of her life in the Lakeside Township, Superior and Oulu, Wisconsin area. She visited Finland and met family members there with Melvin. She was born in Oulu, WI to J. Ernest Rantala and Alina (Kangas) Rantala.

She graduated from East High School in Superior where she worked for room and board to complete her high school education. She was a devoted mother of ten children and a loving grandmother to fifteen grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren.

Vivian spent long days canning and preserving food for her family when they were growing up, and washed many loads of laundry with an old scrub board and wringer washing machine and hanging them on the clothes line all year long.

She enjoyed music, gardening, cooking, baking homemade bread, which was often a welcoming aroma to visitors. She operated a small dairy farm with Melvin and their children, and we learned to work hard.

Vivian also worked for many years on the Town of Lakeside Election Board. She enjoyed meeting town’s people.

She listened to Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins baseball on the radio while doing daily tasks, she liked game shows, watching Westerns on TV as well as the Lawrence Welk program. She was active with PTO when her children in were in school, an active Peace Lutheran Church member with church dinners, holiday bazaars, a choir member, and PLC Woman Secretary. She and Melvin were member of the Järvenpää Singers in Northern, WI and Duluth, MN area.

She sang at Finn Fests and Finnish Festivals in the US and Canada.

She was a preceded by her husband, Melvin N., and son, Tracy R. Johnson; sisters, Alice Wentela, Ruth Plunkett, Bertha Jaynes, Irene Ranta, Marian Anderson, and brothers, Art Rantala and Ralph Rantala, and her parents.

She is survived by a 97-year-old sister, Eva Kamarainen, Renton, WA; children, Elaine (David) Paul, Gail Saari, Bonnie West, Timothy (Kimberly) Johnsons, Ted Johnson, Tom (Susan) Johnson, Tony and Terry Johnson, Todd (Patty) Johnson; and many nieces and nephews.

A small immediate family service and burial is planned, per COVID protocol. There will be a Memorial Celebration of Life Service at a later date for family and friends.

Pallbearers are grandsons, Grant and Gavin Saari, Jacob and Wyatt Johnson, Denny Ahola, and Michael Hubbard.

Honorary pallbearers are great-grandsons, Aden, Arlo, Holden, Chase, Kaiden,  Benjamin, Carter, and Orion.

The family would like to thank Villa Marina for being her extended family and caring for Vivian.

The Lenroot-Maetzold Funeral Home, 1209 E. 5 ^th Street, Superior, is assisting the family with arrangements. To leave a condolence or sign the guestbook, please visit our website at www.lenroot-maetzold.com . To see photos, leave a story or memory, please also visit the additional website set up by the family at https://rememberviverjohnson.weebly.com/ .