Selmer M. Johnson

VIEW SERVICE FOLDER

Selmer M. Johnson, age 85, of Sioux Falls, formerly of Sherman, died on November 24, 2012, at Good Samaritan Village in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 A.M. Friday, November 30, 2012, at Zion Lutheran Church in Garretson. Burial will follow at the Riverview Cemetery in Rock Rapids, IA. Visitation with the family present will be from 6-8:00 P.M. Thursday, at the Minnehaha Funeral Home, Garretson.

Selmer Milford Johnson was born on June 26, 1927 at Centerville, South Dakota, to Cornelius and Mabel (Olson) Johnson. He grew up in the Hooker/Centerville area and attended country school there. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the end of World War II. On May 20, 1951, he married Dorothy Ann Kahl at Rock Rapids, Iowa. Following their marriage, the couple lived in and around Sherman and Sioux Falls all their lives. He held various occupations throughout his life, including working at the chicken house, the Garretson School as a bus driver and janitor, and at Achieve in Sioux Falls.

Selmer was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Garretson, the Garretson American Legion, and the Moose Lodge. He was a volunteer firefighter with the Sherman Fire Department, where he was Fire Chief for many years. He was also a Lifetime Member of the Minnehaha County Fire Chiefs Association.

Grateful for having shared his life are his three daughters: Mable Louise Wilcox of Brandon, Maxine Dorothy Johnson of Titusville, Florida, and Sandra Jean Aiken of Sioux Falls; four sons: Walter Cornelius (Rose) Johnson of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lawrence “Larry” Selmer (Mindee) Johnson of Brandon, Marvin Edward (Brenda) Johnson of Salem, and Dean Allen (Linda) Johnson of Sparta, Wisconsin; 30 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; and siblings: Wilbur Johnson of Sioux Falls, and Katherine (Roger) Larson of Rapid City.

He was preceded in death by his wife on September 8, 2010; son, Arlen James, in July of 1961; his parents; son-in-law, Derald Wilcox Jr.; and three brothers: Clifford, Robert, and Harold.