Jean Italia Johnston

JEAN ITALIA JOHNSTON

The funeral service for Jean Italia Johnston will be 11 am on Monday, January 6, 2014, at the First Congregational Church, 12 2nd Street NW, in Dodge Center, MN, with Pastor Dan Johnson officiating. Interment will be in Riverside Cemetery in Dodge Center and lunch at the Dodge Center American Legion will follow.


Mrs. Johnston, 84, passed away on December 29, 2013, at Fairview Care Center in Dodge Center, after a five-year battle with cancer.


Mrs. Johnston was born December 16, 1929, on a farm north of Dodge Center to Harry and Marie Woodward. The family moved “to town” in 1941 and she attended school in Dodge Center. On October 2, 1946, she married Robert Johnston, who was on leave from the Army Hospital. In April 1948, they had their only child, David. They enjoyed their small hobby farm, spending time with their horses and snowmobiling and their home was always full of nieces and nephews.


Mrs. Johnston was a lifelong member of the First Congregational Church where she held many offices and loved being a member. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, flowers and birds.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnston spent 65 years together before Robert passed away in 2010. She loved her family and her door was always open and the cookie jar was always full.


She is survived by her son, David (Patricia) Johnston, Rochester, MN, and was appreciative of all of the wonderful people he brought into her life. She described her granddaughters Jessica (Randy) Robinson and Michelle Fate, Dodge Center, as her “best friends” and either saw them or spoke with them daily.


Mrs. Johnston was proud of her great-grandchildren, Ashton Fate (fiancé Brett Franko), Rochester; Alexa Fate (fiancé Dustin Streff), Pennock, MN; Mackenzie, Madelyn, Isabel, and Natalie Robinson, Dodge Center; Cori Robinson (fiancé Brian Hauser), Rochester and Cruz Robinson, Dodge Center. She was honored to share her name with her first great-great-granddaughter, Dakotta Jean, who was born in November.


When David married Patricia, she warmly welcomed Patty’s children, Patrick (Margo) Amundrud, Nashville, TN; Eric (Sue) Amundrud (along with their children Hope and Ben), Rochester and Amy Amundrud, Rochester, to the family.


She was preceded in death by her sister Donna Erickson and is survived by her siblings, June Baldridge and Beth (Al) Johnson, Dodge Center, and Don (Janine) Woodward, Yuma, AZ. Mrs. Johnston shared a special relationship with her Mayo Clinic physicians, Dr. Matthew Bernard and Dr. Robert Flinchbaugh, whom she referred to as “the most caring and dedicated people I have ever been privileged to know.”


Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m., Sunday, January 5, 2014, Czaplewski Family Funeral Home, 25 South Street SW, Dodge Center and one hour before the service at the church on Monday.

Blessed be her memory.
Czaplewski Family Funeral Home,