Obit: Johnson, Carl (1905 - 2007)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Johnson, Baeth, Liu, Endru, Lemke

----Sources: Thorp Courier (Thorp, WI.) September 12, 2007

Johnson, Carl (January 7, 1905 - August 28, 2007)

With Flag

Carl Johnson, 102 ½, died August 28, 2007 in Austin, TX. Carl was born January 7, 1905 in Chinook, Montana to Ernest and Amanda (Baeth) Johnson. His father followed the harvests. They later farmed in Rushford, MN and in the Town of Taft. Carl went out west as a young man and worked in the lumber industry. He joined the Army and spent four years in the Signal Corp as a Mess Sgt. in Honolulu, Hawaii. There he met and married Frances Liu on July 27, 1934. After the Army Carl worked for the Honolulu Rapid Transit Co., first as a trolley car driver, then as an inspector and ended his career there as a claims adjuster.

In 1948, the family moved to a farm in the Town of Taft. They bought the Thorp Dairy Bar in 1951, eventually selling it to Leon Pawlak. Restaurants in Eau Claire and the Badger Inn in Stanley followed. They ran a boarding house in Stanley for many years and Carl was a part-time policeman ad worked at the Stanley Corporation. He also worked for the Farmers Store in Mondovi while in Eau Claire.

In 1975, Carl and Frances began spending the winters in South Texas. In 2000, they moved to Austin, Texas to be near their daughter, Wanda and family.

His parents, brother Charlie and sister Amanda Endru preceded him in death.

He is survived by his wife of 73 years, Frances of Austin; daughter Shirley of Rockford, IL; daughter Wanda and her husband Gary of Austin, Texas; son Carl and wife Bea of Springfield, OH; ten grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and a sister, Ruby Lemke of Eau Claire.

Carl was a member of the Stanley Masonic Lodge and the United Methodist Church in Stanley.