Verna (Johnson) Dahl, 96, died Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Brooklyn Park, MN after suffering renal failure.

The funeral service, which will be a celebration of her life, will be held at 10:30 am on Monday, May 24, 2010 at Alma Lutheran Church, rural Argyle, MN with Rev. Dennis Gray officiating. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Thief River Falls, MN.

Visitation will be held Sunday May 23, 2010 from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm with a 4:30 pm prayer service at Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River Falls. Visitation will also be held for one hour prior to the service on Monday at the church.

Verna Clarinda Johnson was born on January 14, 1914 in Mud Lake Township, Marshall County, MN the eighth of eleven children of Edwin Casper and Petrina (Peterson) Johnson. She was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran faith. She attended high school in Holt and in Chisholm, MN and lived with her sister Myrtle while in Chisholm. Verna took Teachers Training in Warren, MN and taught nine years at several Marshall County one room country schoolhouses.

On December 27, 1939, Verna was united in marriage to Leslie Dahl at Newfolden Bethlehem Church. They made their home on the Dahl family farm in Foldahl Township near the Old Mill State Park. This marriage was blessed with a daughter, Sylvia. Verna was a teacher, farmer, wife, homemaker and a second mom to several nieces and nephews.

Verna was a member of Alma Lutheran Church where she was a deaconess, taught Sunday school, and was active in the Womens Missionary Federation (WMF). She was a Riverside 4-H Club Leader. Verna enjoyed the daily newspaper crossword puzzles, mowed her big yard, grew flowers, did calligraphy, painted with oils and water colors, porcelain painted, enjoyed music and hunting. Verna also played the organ, harmonica, guitar and violin. Family, friends and neighbors were cheerfully welcomed at her table where she often served homemade lefse, doughnuts and sweets.

She is blessed and survived by daughter: Sylvia (life partner, Dan Rymer) Scott, Brooklyn Park, MN; granddaughters: Susy (Terrence) Donohoe, Glendale, AZ, Lisa Scott, Minneapolis, MN; great-granddaughter: Leah Scott, of California; and many close nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Verna is preceded in death by her husband, Leslie in 1994; parents; brothers and sisters: Herbert, Luella Sovde, Palma Kolden, Arnold, Myrtle Gregerson, Anna Swan, Ruby Johnson, Ernest, Kenneth, and Ahlert.

ORGANIST: Kathy Rokke
SOLOIST: Darold Johnson
SELECTIONS: I want to walk as a child in the light and Children of the Heavenly Father
CONGREGATIONAL HYMNS: Amazing Grace, The King is Coming, How Great Thou Art
CASKETBEARERS: Deane Olson, Edward Olson, Richard Olson, Bradley Hanson, Jack Hanson, Garrett Johnson, David Kuznia, Rodney Liedberg
HONORARY CASKETBEARERS: Women's Missionary Federation