Virginia Meredith Johnson

Virginia M. Johnson passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 13th, at the age of 76. She was surrounded by loved ones, worshipping together with her as she entered the arms of Jesus.

She was born on April 3rd, 1949 in Minneapolis, MN. Ginny graduated high school from Duluth East, then pursued a degree in Social Work at Valparaiso University in Indiana. She later got her masters in Gerontology at St Scholastica in Duluth, MN.

Ginny moved to a farming community in Beaman, Iowa and gave her hand in marriage to Richard Elmore. Together they had a daughter, Sara.

Ginny and Richard divorced, and she moved to Brainerd, MN, to pursue her career as a social worker at St. Joseph’s Hospital. She met and married James Johnson and warmly welcomed his three boys Gordie, Philip, and Andy and loved them as her own. Ginny and Jim also had a son together, Adam. Ginny loved to go camping with her family and spent many evenings fishing or boating the Brainerd Lakes with her husband and kids. She also enjoyed bowling and was active in bowling leagues with Jim.

Ginny and Jim moved to the Twin Cities in 1992, and she continued her career in social work, this time in a home care setting. She was always up for a new challenge vocationally and thrived in her work. She later started her own business as a conservator for disabled vets. This gave her the flexibility to travel, which she loved! So much so, she and Jim sold their house and hit the road, embracing RV life! She had many adventures in the RV, including following the Lewis & Clark Trail, the Balloon Festival, and more. She very much enjoyed spending the winter months in sunny AZ, not missing the MN cold in the least! She was also active with the Good Sam’s camping group, served on the board for the MN Chapter, and helped organize their fundraising events. Jim and Ginny later divorced.

In her free time, Ginny was an avid reader! She always had several books she was reading at any given time, whether it was a hardcover or on her kindle. She often would be so engrossed in a book, the hours would pass and she’d find herself crawling to bed in the wee hours of the night, or even falling asleep in her chair, reading. Her home was adorned with overflowing bookshelves and there was almost always an Amazon package waiting to be opened with her latest reads!

She also enjoyed watching football and hockey!! If you wanted to see her, you’d need to schedule it around these sporting events, as she planned her days around them!

Nothing brought Ginny more joy, though, than spending time with loved ones. She thrived in one-on-one connection with her family and friends.

Ginny loved Jesus and her faith was an important part of her life. She wore her faith on her sleeve, quite literally, as she loved to wear shirts that had encouraging faith statements on them. Her heart was for others to know the Lord and how truly wonderful He is, and her wardrobe of faith reflected that. She was a woman of faith, indeed.

Ginny faced health challenges over the years, the most notable in 2001-2002 with a failed liver. In God’s perfect plan, her new son-in-law, Brian, donated part of his liver to Ginny on May 22, 2002. They were the 13th living donor liver transplant at the University of MN! Lucky 13…..actually God’s kindness, gave Ginny an additional 23 years of life, and we are forever grateful! In those 23 bonus years, Ginny got to meet and spend time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren! And of course travel!

Ginny was preceded in death by her parents, Donald and Shirley Nichols, and step-son, Andrew Johnson.

She is survived by her children, Gordon (Rachel) Johnson, Philip (Jennie) Johnson, Sara (Brian) Anderson, and Adam (Theresea) Johnson; grandchildren, Morganne (Seth) Helland, Jett Johnson, Grant (Christine) Ehli, Charlie Johnson, Thor Johnson, Micah Anderson, Josiah Anderson, Olivia Anderson, Adam Jr. Johnson, Aaron Johnson, Alex Johnson, Brent Karnick, and McKenna Karnick; and great-grandchildren, Stevie Helland, Sam Ehli, and Freya Almendinger.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life on Saturday, July 26th at 12:00pm at Promised Land Farms, 25500 Zachary Ave, Elko, MN. Visitation with the family will begin at 11:00am. Lunch will be served at the farm immediately following.