Ormond Johnson of Thief River Falls, MN, 90, died Monday April 6, 2015 at Oakland Park Communities, Thief River Falls, MN. Funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls, MN with Rev. John Voelker officiating. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery in Thief River Falls, MN. Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a 7:00 PM prayer service on Monday, April 13, 2015 at Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River Falls, MN. Visitation will also be held from 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM on Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church. Ormond E. Johnson was born May 1, 1924 in Dresser, WI, the son of Edwin and Ethel (Hendrickson) Johnson. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Dresser, WI. He grew up on the farm and had a lot of chores to do, cleaning the barn, feeding the cattle and shoveling manure. Some of his favorite chores included milking the cows and going out and picking berries and his all-time favorite was filling up the grain silo with grain. He loved being high in the air and seeing the whole farm below. Ormond attended Cedar Bend School, which was a one room school house where his favorite subject was math. He later attended Osceola High School where he was involved in FFA, Agriculture, and enjoyed playing the baritone in band and graduated in 1941. He spent about a year and a half after graduating from high school by enrolling in an NYA Sheet metal Class in River Falls, WI. Ormond was very proud of his military service. He was drafted on March 3, 1943 and was inducted into the service at Ft. Snelling, MN, on March 31, 1943, where he was given the choice of Army, Navy or Marine, his selection was Army, because it was rumored they needed men for field artillery. He took his training at Fort Ord, CA and also went to Camp House, TX, Camp Stoneman, CA and boarded a troop ship for the south sea island of New Caledonia. While there he was assigned to the 223rd Field Artillery. They trained in war maneuvers, working guns up and down mountains with mountain hairpin turns, making it a tricky business. He was stationed there for 2 years. During the latter part of World War II, they left New Caledonia moving past New Guinea and on to Leyte in the Philippine Island, where the outfit was fine tuned for war duty. They were scheduled as third attack wave on the shores of Japan, but the next day the atom bombs were dropped. The war was over!! Three days later they loaded ships for San Francisco and from there they boarded trains for home. He was honorably discharged on January 6, 1946 at Camp McCoy, WI with the rank of S-SGT. After Ormond was discharged from the Army he went back to school and in 1949 he graduated from the University Of Minnesota College Of Agriculture with a degree in agriculture. His first job was in Hendrum, MN where he taught for 2 years as an Ag instructor. On February 12, 1949, Ormond was united in marriage to Iola Rose Papenfuss at Zion Lutheran Church, Farmington, WI. In 1952, the couple moved to Thief River Falls, MN and in 1961 they bought a farm located in Rosewood, MN where Ormond farmed and also worked in sales at KTRF/KSNR. He retired from KTRF on May 1, 1986, and then worked for Stan Gibson Realty from 1988 until his retirement in 1993. After his retirement Ormond and Iola went on trips to Europe in 1995 and to Australia in 1998. Ormond was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls, MN where he enjoyed singing in the choir for over 40 years. He was involved with the city band 1956-1978 and then the Northland College Community band 1978-1998. He was a member of the American Legion Ecklund-Holmstrom Post #117 for over 50 years where he was commander in 1959 and a member of 40et8 organization. He was also a member of the VFW Post #2793, the Elks Lodge, Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Golden Pioneers, Thief River Falls Jaycees 1953-1956 (served as President in 1955), and was involved with the Heritage Center of Thief River Falls, MN. Survived by children, Douglas O. (Teri) Johnson of Roseau, MN, Donald A. (Peg) Johnson of Detroit Lakes, MN, Susan R. Johnson of Sacramento, CA, James E. (Chris) Johnson of Blaine, MN, Mark W. (Linda) Johnson of Maple Grove, MN and Mary J. (Dan) Thorstad of Thief River Falls, MN; grandchildren: Kylee (Mark) Miller, Keri (Scott) Van Havermaet, and Kathy (Austen) Miller, Nathan (Meredith) Johnson, Mackenzie Dillon, Ross Johnson, Jessica (Tyler Evenson) Coyne, Michael Bittner, Brandon Johnson, Zachary Johnson, Chad (Anna) Thompson, Kelsey Schaefer and Ben Thorstad (Fiance` Tayler Genereux). Great-grandchildren: Mae, Nora, Paul, Henry, Boedy, Alivia, and Vada, as well as Nieces, Nephews, and Cousins and other relatives. He is preceded in death by his wife, Iola Johnson on September 5, 2003; sister Lucille; parents; and his grandparents.