Mary Frances Johnson, 92, of Duluth, MN, received her angel wings on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. She had been living at the Vista Memory Care unit at Edgewood, Hermantown, MN. She was born on January 19, 1932 to William and Agnes (Sauers) Schonhoff in Milnor, North Dakota, where she graduated from Milnor High School.

Mary married Edward William Johnson on November 23, 1955. They celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2005. Together they welcomed 6 children into the world. The kids were very blessed to have their mother stay at home to raise them. Mary and Edward were very proud to tell people that their sons all graduated in engineering from various colleges, but always reminded the boys that their sister was the smartest and proved it by marrying a banker.

Mary loved crocheting and the almost lost art of tatting. She made many beautiful things, such as large American Flags, which she gave to family, friends, and charitable causes. Later in life she transitioned her skills to making "scrubbies" everyone loved to get from her when visiting.

Mary was passionate about helping with funeral lunches at the church. She enjoyed playing cards and board games. Perhaps from being mainly focused on home and kids, she took great delight in travel and went on several trips with Ed, including the countryside of England and Scotland, as well as a trip by the high-speed Channel Train to Paris, France. They also made it on an epic Hawaiian cruise, which Mary had always wanted to do.

Mary and Ed had a small cabin in Solon Springs where they loved entertaining the family, swimming, Fourth of July celebrations including impressive firework displays, playing games on the porch overlooking the lake, and fishing. She was very competitive when fishing and rarely missed catching fish and then cooking them for the family.

Mary was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Sarah Beth Johnson; great-grandson, Gabriel Isaiah Nygaard; siblings, Rosella (James) Levin, Gerald (Marion) Schonhoff, Monica (James) Staudt, and Loyola (Duane) Tayer; nephew, Billy Staudt; and nieces, Connie Staudt and Angie Tankersley.

Mary is survived by her children, Jerome Johnson of Naples, FL, Michael (Margaret) Johnson of Friendswood, TX, Fredrick Johnson, Lawrence (Kathy) Johnson of Irvine, CA, Linda (Patrick) O'Brien of Solon Springs, WI, and Daniel (Jacque) Johnson of Selma, AL; 18 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandchild; and a very caring former daughter-in-law, Vicky (Jerry) Johnson.

The family cannot express enough gratitude for the caring and loving attention shown to their mother by the staff at Edgewood Vista and the staff and residents of the Caring Edge Hospice Unit.

A private family viewing was held on September 9th at Sunrise Funeral Home.

Visitation to be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 12th at Sunrise Funeral Home, 4798 Miller Trunk Hwy, with Funeral Service at 2:00 PM and reception to follow. Mary will be interred in her final resting place at Sunrise Memorial Park Cemetery next to her dear husband, Ed.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mary's honor preferred to Wounded Warriors or St Jude's Children's Research.