Mildred Johnson

Mildred Voelpel Johnson, 91, of Fargo, ND, died Sunday, January 21, 2007, in the Palliative Care Unit at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley. A long-time resident of north Fargo, Millie had moved into the Fairmont in Moorhead, MN, in mid-October. Shortly after moving, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Millie was born on March 2, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, to John A. and Mary (Boss) Voelpel. She attended schools in Baudette, Minnesota, and Portal, North Dakota, graduating from Portal High School in 1932. She entered nurse’s training at Trinity Hospital in Minot, North Dakota, and graduated in May 1936. She worked one year at the Kenmare Deaconess Hospital. In August 1937, she took an assignment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fargo, where she continued to work for over 36 years, most of that time as operating room supervisor. She retired in July 1973. Millie married Iver G. Johnson on July 30, 1938, in South Dakota. He died in 1996. She was a member of the Gate City District Nurses Association and the Association of Operating Room Supervisors and a lifetime member of the Eastern Star. She had a strong faith and had been an active member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo, since 1951. Among her many activities, during her life, were playing and watching basketball; spending time at the family cottage on Lake Melissa; traveling; bowling, gardening; knitting and crocheting; crossword puzzles and shopping, her favorite places being garage sales and thrift shops. She loved being with family and friends and will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Millie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Iver; a son, Ronald W. Johnson; and a brother, John A. Voelpel, Jr. She is survived by a son, Jerry L. (Judy) Johnson, Moorhead, MN; two sisters, Mary Lindstrom, Moorhead, MN; and Viola (Blondie) Smith, Silver City, NM; three granddaughters; four great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. The family wishes memorials to be made to Hospice of the Red River Valley or St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Fargo, ND.