Dorothea S. Johnson

Dorothea S. Johnson, 101 years of age, of Wymore, Nebraska passed away at the PEO home in Beatrice Tuesday morning, April 9, 2013. She was born on November 12, 1911 in Lawrence, Kansas to Wilford and Mary (Reineke) Simons, and was a 1927 graduate of Liberty Memorial High School in Lawrence. She entered the University of Kansas at age 15 and pledged the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. She was active in dramatics and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa (National Scholastic Fraternity). She graduated from Kansas University with her BA in 1931. Dorothea and Harry Johnson were married on October 24, 1936 in Lawrence, KS and moved to Dawson, NE where they owned and operated the Johnson Lumber Company. They moved to Wymore in 1946 when they purchased Farmers Grain, Lumber, and Coal Company. Dorothea was involved in Wymore in the DAR; was past president and member of the UMW; member for over 50 years in the Chapter Q, PEO and the Eastern Star. She was the first president of the Wymore Parent Teacher Association, involved in the Music Boosters, and was a delegate to the 14th World Methodist Conference in 1981 in Hawaii. She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Wymore and the Kansas Alumni Association and the Chancellors Club. She enjoyed reading, traveling, theater (acting) and handiwork (fancy work, embroidery, crocheting, etc.). She especially enjoyed spending her summers at Gull Lake near Brainerd, MN.
Survivors include two sons, Lance Johnson of Wymore and Charlie Johnson and wife Cathy of Beaufort, SC; grandchildren, Steve Johnson and wife Josefina of Beaufort, SC, Scott Johnson and wife Jennifer of Denver, CO, Diego Johnson of Brazil, Elizabeth O’Brien and husband David of Palm Desert, CA, and Lara Johnson of Puenta Del Este, Uruguay; great grandchildren, Andalu Johnson and Jane Caroline Waitman; and many nephews, nieces, and grand nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, Wilford Collins Simons and Mary Gertrude (Reineke) Simons; husband, Harry Johnson; son, Dolph Johnson; brothers, Dolph Simons Sr. and John Louie Simons; and sisters, Blanche Maloney and Janet McNalley.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the Wymore United Methodist Church with Reverend Dan Albers officiating. Interment will be in the Wymore Cemetery. The body will lie in state Wednesday from 2-9:00 at the Laughlin-Hoevet Funeral Home in Wymore and at the church one hour preceding the service on Thursday. A family prayer service will be held at 10:45 A.M. Thursday at the church. A memorial has been established to the PEO Home in Beatrice with the funeral home in charge. You may sign Dorothea’s online guest book and leave messages of condolence at www.ghchapel.com. The Laughlin-Hoevet Funeral Home in Wymore is in charge of the services.
Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries.LJWorld.com.