Chester
Chester O Johnson
d. December 8, 2009
Chester Otto Johnson, age 96 of St. Peter, died Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospital in Mankato.
Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 19, 2009 at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter. Private burial will take place in Lake Fremont Cemetery in Dunnell, MN. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m., Friday, December 18, 2009 at St. Peter Funeral Home-Klein Chapel and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.
Chester Otto Johnson was born on February 1, 1913 in Moline, Illinois. His parents were Martin N. and Alvina (Chester) Johnson. He was baptized and confirmed in historic First Lutheran Church in Moline where his family had been members since 1860.
He was educated in the Moline Public Schools, graduating from Moline High School in 1931. He then attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, graduating in 1935. Following graduation he was employed by International Harvester Company in East Moline and Rock Island.
He was married to Marian Ruth Swanson at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Dunnell, MN on November 4, 1944. The couple was blessed with two children Christine A. and Martin C. Johnson.
After graduate study in geology at the University of Chicago he spent an interim year teaching at Augustana College and then came to Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota. Here he founded the geology department of that college. His teaching career at Gustavus was interrupted by two years of field service with the United States Geological Survey where he worked in northern Colorado and central Wyoming.
At Gustavus, in addition to teaching, he was active in faculty and curriculum developments. He devoted a year to such endeavors as full-time chairman of the curriculum study committee the report of which resulted in far reaching changes in the academic program of the College. As an active member of the National Association of Geology Teachers he served successively as vice president and president of the Central Section of that organization. He officially retired from teaching in 1978 and taught geology part time for an additional half dozen years.
From 1978 until 2001 he was Archivist of the Minnesota and Red River Synods of the Lutheran Church in America. After these synods in 1987 became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America he continued to supervise the historical records of five Lutheran Church bodies, which at one time or another owned and operated Gustavus Adolphus College.
During his various careers he was a member of over a dozen scientific, archives, and historical societies including the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science of which societies he was a Fellow. He also was a long time member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and of the Augustana Historical Society.
He is survived by wife, Marian of St. Peter; children, Christine Feldman and husband, Ira of Chicago, IL, and Martin Johnson, and wife Gail of San Jose, CA; grandchildren, Amelia C. Johnson of San Jose, Joseph Feldman and wife, Ellen of Plymouth, MN, and Lisa Feldman of Chicago, IL; great-grandchildren, Evelyn and Kira Feldman of Plymouth, MN.
Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 19, 2009 at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter. Private burial will take place in Lake Fremont Cemetery in Dunnell, MN. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m., Friday, December 18, 2009 at St. Peter Funeral Home-Klein Chapel and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.
Chester Otto Johnson was born on February 1, 1913 in Moline, Illinois. His parents were Martin N. and Alvina (Chester) Johnson. He was baptized and confirmed in historic First Lutheran Church in Moline where his family had been members since 1860.
He was educated in the Moline Public Schools, graduating from Moline High School in 1931. He then attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, graduating in 1935. Following graduation he was employed by International Harvester Company in East Moline and Rock Island.
He was married to Marian Ruth Swanson at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Dunnell, MN on November 4, 1944. The couple was blessed with two children Christine A. and Martin C. Johnson.
After graduate study in geology at the University of Chicago he spent an interim year teaching at Augustana College and then came to Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota. Here he founded the geology department of that college. His teaching career at Gustavus was interrupted by two years of field service with the United States Geological Survey where he worked in northern Colorado and central Wyoming.
At Gustavus, in addition to teaching, he was active in faculty and curriculum developments. He devoted a year to such endeavors as full-time chairman of the curriculum study committee the report of which resulted in far reaching changes in the academic program of the College. As an active member of the National Association of Geology Teachers he served successively as vice president and president of the Central Section of that organization. He officially retired from teaching in 1978 and taught geology part time for an additional half dozen years.
From 1978 until 2001 he was Archivist of the Minnesota and Red River Synods of the Lutheran Church in America. After these synods in 1987 became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America he continued to supervise the historical records of five Lutheran Church bodies, which at one time or another owned and operated Gustavus Adolphus College.
During his various careers he was a member of over a dozen scientific, archives, and historical societies including the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science of which societies he was a Fellow. He also was a long time member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and of the Augustana Historical Society.
He is survived by wife, Marian of St. Peter; children, Christine Feldman and husband, Ira of Chicago, IL, and Martin Johnson, and wife Gail of San Jose, CA; grandchildren, Amelia C. Johnson of San Jose, Joseph Feldman and wife, Ellen of Plymouth, MN, and Lisa Feldman of Chicago, IL; great-grandchildren, Evelyn and Kira Feldman of Plymouth, MN.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Chester O Johnson, please visit our flower store.
Guestbook
Visits: 4
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors