Funeral services for Beverly P. Johnson, age 80 of Lemmon, will be held 2:00pm MT Wednesday, June 18, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon. Pastor Ken Miller will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery.


Special music will be provided by Marilyn Willey, organist and Russ Umback, soloist.


Serving as casketbearers are Craig Johnson, Scott Johnson, Douglas Johnson, Jeremiah Johnson, Dave Johnson, and Matthew Johnson.


Beverly Phyllis Pederson was born in Arlington, SD on September 28th, 1927. She was the fourth, and youngest, child of George R. and Clara L. (Olson) Pederson.


Beverly was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. She attended school in Brookings and Kingsbury counties and lived on the farm with her parents, in Arlington with an aunt and uncle, and ultimately in Hayti while attending high school. She, and her future husband, became homecoming queen and king at Hayti High School in 1944. Following graduation, Beverly moved to Brookings and worked at a grocery store while she waited for her groom to complete training. On July 12th, 1946 Beverly married Ronald Johnson at Hayti, SD during a brief "delay in route" as Ron left for Japan.
Beverly continued to work in Brookings while she waited for her husband to return. They spent an additional year in Brookings and 3 years in Vermillion while he attended school. They moved to DeSmet, SD in 1950 with their first son.


In 1953 Beverly and Ron moved to Lemmon and began raising her family. She was active at Calvary Lutheran church where she helped upholster the communion rail of the newly built church. Beverly also participated in the annual lutefisk supper with her famous meatballs, teaching Sunday school, and providing rhubarb pies for the altar society.


While fulfilling her role as a home maker and mother, Beverly found time for being a Den Mother for Cub Scouts, the provider of a hangout for most of the kids in the neighborhood, and the guiding force in the lives of her children.


She played the role of military wife when she and her three sons moved to the Fort Lewis, WA area when Ron and the 211th Engineers were called to active duty in 1962. She continued to provide a strong influence on her sons and once again became the provider of a central location for many of the neighborhood children.


She returned with her family to Lemmon where her fourth son was born and where she resided until her death. She continued her local activity with the American Legion Auxiliary, golfing, and bridge. She could drive a tractor, can antelope, help her sons with pine wood derby cars, and entertain senators and governors at her dining room table.


Beverly enjoyed etching glass as a hobby (a 4 foot long SHALOM beside her front door was one of her projects) and enjoyed the time she spent providing guidance to her grandchildren. Her favorite verse, expressed to her in a thank you from one of her grandchildren, summed up her philosophy of life. Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." That is what she taught, and that is how she lived.


Her devotion and love to her high school sweetheart continued to the end. She kept one anniversary card that she had given Ron from 1978. Thirty years ago it said "My life needed someone like you, to talk with, to understand, to make the clouds go away, someone to love - like I love you, Bev".


Beverly died Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at Med Center One in Bismarck, ND.


Surviving family members include her husband, Ronald R. Johnson, Lemmon, SD; four sons, Steven (Barbara) Johnson, Council Bluffs, IA; Scott (Georgia) Johnson, Seattle, WA; Douglas Johnson, Stephan, SD; Dave (Michelle) Johnson, Chicago, IL; 13 grandchildren, Bilden, Jamie Ann, Matthew David, Beth Ann, Craig, Jennifer, Jeremiah and Tess Johnson; Angela DuMont, Amy Beatty, Kelly, Tony, and Keith Kern; four great grandchildren, Hailey and Madisen DuMont; Raylin Johnson, and Ashley Beatty; one sister, Myrl (Harley) Austad, Lake Preston, SD; two sisters-in-law, Beulah Pederson, Volga, SD; and Virginia Johnson, Minneapolis, MN.


She was preceded in death by her parents, 2 brothers, Gerald and Ralph Pederson; and a daughter-in-law, LuRay Johnson.


A memorial fund will be established in her name for health and safety programs in the Lemmon area.