FUNERAL SERVICE

FOR

Prelude of Organ Music

Opening remarks - Bishop Wesley Keller

Brothers and Sisters, we are gathered here today to pay our respects to Sister Johnson and to offer comfort and consolation to her bereaved family.

The service this afternoon has been arranged by the family and those who participate will do so by their request. Sister Adele Larsen is at the organ and the group of young men who served as pall-bearers are the grandsons of Brother and Sister Johnson. The choir will sing I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, after which Brother Louis Christensen will offer the invocation.

Invocation - Louis Christensen

Our Father Who Art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name. We, a number of Thy children, have assembled on this occasion to pay a tribute of respect to our departed sister, whom Thou has been pleased to call to the other side. We are thankful for the life of this good sister. We thank Thee for the beautiful flowers - a token of esteem and respect; for she truly endeared herself in the hearts of all who knew her, for to know her was to love her. We pray Thee that the examples she has set for us and associate with this dear, beloved woman. Her life is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. She was a woman of faith. Everyone who knew her, knew that every hour of her life was spent in service; that she was a wise, kind, faithful, devoted wife; that she was a sweet, gentle, tender, loving mother; that she was charitable and benevolent to a degree to those who were in need; and that she passed form this life possessing a firm belief in Thee and Thy work.

We pray Thee now, Heavenly Father, for the goodly number of her posterity, her children and grandchildren who are gathered on this occasion, to whom the loss will be great.We pray Thee to bless them that the good life she has lived will be mirrored before them all the days of their lives and that they may emulate the examples she has set before them and that they all, on a common day, may again gather and be assembled under her kind care and guidance in Thy Kingdom.

We pray Thee in behalf of her husband. Be merciful unto him on this occasion. Bless him, strengthen him in this hour of his bereavement when he is bereft of the one who has stood by his side through thick and thin throughout these many years. He has served Thee faithfully in preaching Thy gospel in the mission field and has held many responsible positions in connection with Thy work. Bless him that his remaining years may be gladdened by the knowledge and hope that he will meet her in the morning of the first resurrection.

Bless all who are here assembled. Bless the speakers who will address us on this occasion, and we pray that we may, in reviewing the life of this noble woman, resolve in our hearts to profit by what we shall hear and that we will all on a common day be found worthy of a place in Thy Kingdom, is my prayer in Jesus' name, Amen.

Remarks -Bishop Wesley Keller

I wish to express to you the appreciation of this family for your presence here. Every act of thoughtfulness and of kindness is deeply appreciated by them. They are grateful to those who will participate on the program, and they appreciate the many beautiful floral offering brought here today.

I have known Sister Johnson hardly at all myself, and I think that many of you have not known her personally very well. I have been thinking, however, that we surely know a great deal about her. It is said, "By their fruits, Ye shall know them." If we think for a few moments of our acquaintance with the family - the sons and daughters and the grandsons and granddaughters - I should say that we know a great deal about her. I am sure we would all say that she was a woman possessed of a great deal of love and kindness in her heart and nature, as expressed throughout characteristic of Sister Johnson, as reflected in her children. I am sure you have known her to be a woman whose interest was in her home; this interest has been second to none with herself to her; and I am sure you will agree with me that her family is a testimony of this policy.

Members of the Johnson family have contributed outstanding service to their church and community. I remember very distinctly a few years back when Milton returned from his mission, and of how active he was here in the ward. He did some outstanding work in the Sunday School, and he is one of my Sunday School teachers I remember so well and who influenced my life a great deal.

I am sure, Brothers and Sisters, it would be impossible to enumerate the many fine qualities possessed by this good woman, which she passed on to her children and grandchildren; you know very them better than I do. I will just say that we have been very fortunate to have this family in the ward and in our midst perhaps longer than any other family in the ward, as I understand they have been here about sixty-two years. So I am sure that whether we are fully conscious of it or not, we have greatly benefited by their influence and our lives have been bettered through having known and associated with them.

Sister Nora Eliason will now sing, O MY FATHER. Brother M. J. Falslev will be the first speaker and Brother Walter Everton the second speaker and then Professor Christensen will render a violin solo.