Ann Weaver, age 81 of Hettinger, passed away on Wednesday evening, March 18, 2015 at Western Horizons Care Center in Hettinger.

The Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, March 27, 2015 at the United Methodist Church in Hettinger. Burial will be in the Bison Cemetery.

Visitation will be on Thursday from 1:00 - 7:30 pm with a gathering of family and friends at 7:30 pm all at the Centennial Chapel in Hettinger.

Jo Ann (Ann) Weaver (Johnson), daughter of the prairie, departed this life peacefully on March 18, 2015 at Western Horizons Care Center, Hettinger, ND. Ann was born on May 22, 1933 to Wells and Edythe (McKinstry) Weaver at the farm of her uncle and aunt, Art and Jessie McKinstry, located about five miles from Lemmon near Petrel, ND. She was the youngest of four children. Ann started first grade in Bison, but moved with her family to Grandma Weaver's farm south of Bison subsequently completing her elementary education at Lone Tree School. She became a member of the Bison Presbyterian Church in 1949. Ann graduated from Bison High School in 1951 and then attended teacher training at Northern State College in Aberdeen. Her first teaching job was at the rural Johnson School in northwest Perkins County, SD, where she met her future husband, Kermit Johnson. On August 3, 1952 the couple was married in Ellingson, South Dakota. To this union, eight children were born: Luann, Kathryn, Iris, Kermit (Kit), Von, Lorell, Vivian, and John (Everett). Ann lived on the farm in northwest Perkins County until the 1980s when she moved to Reeder, ND and thereafter settled in Hettinger, ND.

Many years of Ann's life was devoted to raising her large family, and being a farm-wife and homemaker. In 1973, Ann became employed as a secretary/bookkeeper at the Farmer's Union Oil Station in Reeder. In 1988 she enrolled in a secretarial computer skills program at Western Area Vo-Tech in Rapid City, SD. She then worked for West River Hospital Nurse Corp in Hettinger, ND until retirement. She continued to stay active in the Hettinger Community, teaching some of the first quilting classes in the area, initiating a gardening group, and contributing to Dakota Prairie Helping Hands.

Ann was an active member of a rural homemaker's club and a long-time member of the Golden Valley women's bible study group that stuck together long after the country Lutheran churches closed in the 1960s. Members of these organizations became Ann's good and lasting friends. She was a woman of faith, which sustained her through the many joys and trials of her life. Ann belonged to the United Methodist church in Hettinger and was active until health issues interfered. She was modest and unassuming, but also an independent thinker. She was a bit proud of the fact she was a life-long teetotaler and never a coffee drinker. Ann was a skilled seamstress, making clothes for her children in the early days and creating beautiful quilts in her later years. She will also be remembered for the many hours she spent crafting knitted and crocheted afghans. She graced all of her grandchildren with an afghan at birth and a hand-pieced quilt on the occasion of their high school graduation. Ann enjoyed and took pride in her yard and garden and became one of Hettinger's master gardeners. Her greatest joys in life were her family; her children, 24 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and extended family. She was a devoted and proud supporter of her grandchildren, often traveling long distances to be there for their special events. Ann stayed connected with her nieces and nephews and appreciated their thoughtfulness. She looked forward to the reunions of the extended McKinstry family. She will be remembered for her listening ear, her tender heart, and for the wit and humor she honed in her later years.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, sister Bernice, sister Allyce and brother-in-law Byron Matthews, sister-in-law Shirley Weaver, and son Kermit (Kit) Johnson.

She is survived by her brother, Albert Weaver, Hettinger, ND, children and grandchildren Luann (David) Zuercher of Pierre, SD, Michael (Kendra), Rachel, and Anne; Kathryn (Doyle Estes) Johnson of Hill City, SD; Iris Pettit of Salt Lake City, UT, Kristen, Scott, Amy (Jared), Rachel (Kyler), and Caleb; daughter-in-law Barbara Johnson of Hettinger, ND, Brandon (Lindsey), Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Nicole; Von (Noreen) Johnson of Belfield, ND, Carrie (Adam), Joshua (Sarah), Jeremy, and Christopher; Lorell (Kenny) Greni of Dickinson, ND and Marie (Devon); Vivian Skaug of Midland MI, Nathan (Caitlin), Daniel (Erin), Jessica (Chris), Justine (Blake), Erik, and Anne; and John Everett Johnson of Reeder, ND and Jaime.

A memorial has been established to the Dakota Buttes Museum, the United Methodist Church, both in Hettinger, and the American Heart Association.