Ruth M. Johnson

PINE RIVER -- Ruth M. Johnson, 88, Pine River, died Monday, Dec. 3, 2001, at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd.

She was born Oct. 18, 1913, in Pine River to William and Ellen (Foley) Lauritzon. She attended elementary and high school in Pine River and graduated in 1932. After graduation, she continued her Normal School training in Pine River where she earned a teaching certificate. She taught at various country schools in the Pine River area. She married Ernest R. Johnson in Walker on Nov. 4, 1939. She was active in securing volunteers for the Red Cross Blood Bank and was a member of the Ladies Aid at Our Lady of Lourdes Church.

Survivors include her husband; a son, Ronald D. Johnson, Breezy Point; two daughters, Diane C. Wick, Two Rivers, Wis., and Betty L. McAllister, Pine River; 10 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two sisters, Monica Conn, Alexandria, and Helen Rozycki, Minneapolis; and a brother, Robert Lauritzon, Portland.

A sister, Marcella Meyer, and two grandchildren died earlier.

Services will be 2 p.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Pine River with Father Seamus Walsh and the Rev. Edward Foster officiating. Memorials are preferred to the American Heart Association.

Friends may call an hour before services Thursday at the church.

Arrangements are with Kline Funeral Home in Pine River.