Zona Irene Johnson, 92 of Ely Minnesota passed away peacefully in South Jordan, Utah, on April 26, 2013. Zona was born to the late Sanders and Cora Olson, on April 17, 1921, in Meadowlands, Minnesota. She obtained her teaching degree from St. Cloud State Teaching College, and started her career in a one room schoolhouse in rural northern Minnesota. She married the late Glen Johnson in 1943, and after living in Cloquet for a few years, they moved to Ely in 1952.
Zona continued her teaching career in Ely, and pioneered the Special Education Program in the Ely schools. She and her assistant and good friend, Roberta Patterson were passionate about making a difference in these special children's lives for 18 years. Zona was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ely, The Weavers Guild, and the Ladies Auxiliary. She and Glen loved to travel and made trips to Alaska, Gulf Shores, Alabama, Denmark and Australia. Zona loved the outdoors and spent many hours fishing, snowmobiling, walking, picking raspberries and blueberries, swimming and boating. She was an avid reader and chocolate chip cookie maker, and had a fondness for chocolate Dairy Queen.
Zona is survived by five children, Sandy Heidergott (Kurt, deceased) of Bellevue WA., Gerry Johnson (Diana) of Salt Lake City, Utah, Sharon Allhands of St. George, Utah, Nanci Johnson (Raymond Paschke) of Port Orford, Oregon and Glen Johnson, (Michelle)of Brainerd, Minnesota. She is also survived by four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and two grand-puppies.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 17th at the First Presbyterian Church of Ely. The visitation will be held from 12:00pm -1:00pm, and the service will be at 1:00pm, officiated by Pastor Bill Evans. There will be light refreshments served afterward.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Bauman Funeral Home.

The family would like to extend their gratitude to the staff of Carrington Court in South Jordan, Utah, for their love and care of Zona for the past three years.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Alzheimers Association.

Facts

Born: April 17, 1921
Place of Birth: Meadowlands, MN
Death: April 26, 2013
Place of Death: Salt Lake City, UT
Occupation: Instructor

Services Visitation

Friday May 17, 2013 , 12 noon - 1pm at First Presbyterian Church

Friday May 17, 2013 , 1:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church - Ely

Friday May 17, 2013 at Ely Cemetery