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Charles Johnson
Charles Dean Johnson, age 66, of Wells, MN, died June 11, 2021 after a courageous battle with cancer at Methodist Hospital in Rochester, MN. A Memorial Service will be held Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 11:00 AM at Open Doors Wells United Methodist Church with Pastor Chris Leistra officiating. Visitation will be Tuesday, June 15 from 4:00-7:00 PM at Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Wells, MN, and for one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be at Rosehill Cemetery in Wells, MN. Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home is assisting the family. To leave an online condolence, please visit www.brussheitner.com.
Charlie was born April 30, 1955 the son of Robert and Willma (Lacher) Johnson. He graduated from Wells-Easton High School in 1973. After graduation he continued higher education at U of MN Waseca where he studied agronomy. Charlie also starred on the university football team where he excelled on both the offensive and defensive line. He was united in marriage to the love of his life Debra Wiederhoft on August 15, 1975 at UMC in Wells, MN. Together they raised 3 children that he adored more than anything (that is until his 7 grandchildren arrived). His life work was spent on the farm alongside his dad, brother, son and grandchildren. He was a tireless advocate for farmers where he was Chairman of the Board for CFS and served on the Clark Township board for over 30 years.
In his free time he loved to watch sports and travel with family and friends. His most memorable trip was a Disney cruise with the entire family. A good cup of coffee shared with family and friends was the perfect way for him to start his day. In retirement you could find him sitting at the end of the dock and fishing. As the seasons changed, the fishing transitioned indoors to the icehouse where you could find his rod and reel (perhaps not being attended to) but in the water. He has a few grandkids that will likely pick up that fishing pole a time or two more because of their Grandpa Charlie.
He loved entertaining at the lake cabin where you could often find him on a sunny afternoon listening to Journey on the pontoon with a group of friends. The regulars knew not to ask him to sing.
You learn a lot about someone in the highs and lows of life. With Charlie’s cancer diagnosis we learned how incredibly strong he was. There was not a treatment, procedure or trial that he was not willing to try. He was often overheard telling medical staff that he had so much to live for as he wanted to be there for his family and grandkids. A nurse asked to describe Charlie and his daughter said, “A stranger was just a friend that he hadn’t met yet”. Quoting William Butler Yeats.
Charlie is survived by his best friend (wife): Deb Johnson of Wells, MN; children: Nicki (Paul) Dambowy of Lake Elmo, MN, Darin (Rachel) Johnson of Wells, MN, Missy (Brad) Roux of Grant, MN; brothers: Neil (Marlene) Johnson of Denver, CO and Scott (Linda) Johnson of Wells, MN; grandchildren: Brennan and Lola Dambowy, Tyra, Lexi and Aaron Johnson, Esme and Emmett Roux; many nieces, nephews and their families.
He will be met in heaven with open arms by his loving mother, father, and older brother Gary.
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Our deepest sympathy to the entire Johnson family! May your memories bring you comfort & peace! Rest In Peace, Charlie!
John & Sue Vee
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Our deepest sympathy for the Johnson family. Thoughts and prayers 🙏
Our deepest sympathy to the entire family. I had a chance to know Charlie through the seed dealership. He was very instrumental in representing dealers nationwide on our dealer council. He deeply cared about his customers and always doing things right.
Our sincere condolences to your whole family. Charlie had a smile that could light up a room, he will be missed by all who had the pleasure of making his acquaintance. May all your memories give you strength as you say until we meet again to such a wonderful man.
We are so sorry for your loss! The family has our condolences and wishes for fond memories! Gary and Linda Hagen
Our sincere sympathy to the whole family. Charlie was a wonderful man. Always a smile on his face and kind words. A one of a kind! He will be missed! Rest In Peace!
Charlie was one of those special people who knew how to bring out the best in everyone around him. Our heartfelt thoughts to Deb and the rest of the Johnson family.
My deepest sympathy in the loss of Charlie. Thoughts and prayers to family and friends.
Our deepest sympathy to all of the family.
Deepest Sympathy to all the Family Our thoughts and prayers are with you all Charlie could light up a room with his smiles RIP
Our deepest sympathy to the entire family. Charlie will be greatly missed.
May the memories of happy times bring you peace during these difficult days.
Conference to the Johnson family . Charlie was always so friendly ,he always had a smile and a hello. Cheryl Wilder
Charlie’s passing is both terribly sad and at the same time it has brought peace for Charlie.
Kathie and myself send our deepest sympathy to all of the family.
I just remember Charlie as just being an all around good guy who liked to kid around. Prayers and thoughts for the family and friends
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My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Charlie. May your memories bring you comfort during this difficult time. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed by everyone!! May God take him into his open arms. Rest In Peace 🙏
I was surprised by the news of Charlie’s passing as I had no idea that he had cancer. I spent my high school years laughing with Charlie and enjoying his humor! He took the wrestling team to memorable heights! I enjoyed talking with him at our class reunions and appreciated his dedication to farm life and work. God bless you Charlie and family. My sympathies are with you.
Thoughts and prayers to all the family. Charlie was such a nice & friendly guy always smiling.
So sorry for your loss. Our sympathy to the family. He was such a fun guy. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Our condolences to the entire Johnson family. Thinking of you.
Charlie will be greatly missed. His love for family and farm was apparent when he came to visit his southern Mn extended family. My wife and I unfortunately won’t be able to attend as we are out of state but please know our thoughts and prayers are with you.
I met Charlie (and Gary) when I was part of the pea-pack at Del Monte back in the late ’70s. His sense of humor made for some fun days. He was often found shaking his head with a big grin on his face, especially the one and only time I had to climb inside the combine drum and pitch out my plugged up combine (” a lesson well learned” he said as I climbed out unrecognizable and covered with vines and slime). Over the years Charlie has been an awesome advocate for Wells and its farming community. My sympathies to Deb and his loving family.
My deepest sympathy in the loss of Charlie. He could bring smiles to everyone. Prayers to the Johnson family.
So sorry to hear…enjoyed Charlie and the conversations we had…
My thoughts and prayers go out to all who loved Charlie!
A very, very good person. God’s great blessings and comforts to the Johnson family.
Out thoughts and prayers are there for all the Johnson family. He will
certainly be missed. May he rest
In peace.
Our sympathy and prayers to the Johnson Family.
Deb, Our sympathy & prayers in the loss of your husband. May Gods grant you strength & wisdom in these difficult days
Deb and family, you have my deepest sympathy! I met so many wonderful people during my stay at USC, and Charlie was one of the best! He always had a positive outlook and encouraging words. He will be missed by everyone who had the good fortune to know him. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!
Deepest sympathy Deb and family…Charlie will be missed but not forgotten. Blessings to you all❤️❤️
My deepest sympathy Deb in the loss of Charlie. He was one of the good guys.
You have our thoughts and prayers. Charlie was a man who loved his family dearly. May you continue to keep his spirit alive with all the memories you have in your hearts. It won’t make the pain of missing him go away, but those beautiful memories will help lighten the sting.
Thinking of you.
Our deepest sympathy to you and your family Deb. Prayers for your comfort and strength in this most difficult of times.
Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers! …. Charlie’s smile .. always there and always so kind.
My deepest sympathies to the Johnson Family. Charlie was a gentleman’s gentleman. I always loved his big smile when he’d greet me. May he Rest In Peace.
Charlie was one of those people you liked the minute you met him. His love of family, community and agriculture were his hallmarks. Charlie was the true definition of a gentlemen. He will be missed by all who koew him. Our deepest sympathy to the family for your loss. May the lord hold Charlie in his warm embrace and give him eternal peace. Blessings to you all.
Charlie was one of those people you liked the minute you met him. His love of family, community and agriculture were his hallmark. Charlei will be deeply missed by all who knew him. May the Lord hold him in his warm embrace and give him eternal peace. Our deepest sympathy to the entire Johnson family. Blessings to you all!
Sorry to hear about Charlie’s death
He was one of the good guys that went to early
Sorry for your loss Deb. Didn’t know he had cancer. He was a nice guy like his brother Gary…
My deepest sympathy to the Johnson family! Charlie was a classmate & fun one at that. Rest In Peace Charlie !
My sincere sympathy to you all.
Neil, My sympathy to you and your family.
My deepest sympathy to Deb and family. Charlie will be missed by many.
So very sorry for your loss. May your memories bring you comfort and joy.
My deepest sympathy Deb, to you and your family. I am sure he and Myrl are sharing and laughing over many stories of there fishing trips together.
We are so sorry for your loss. Your strong family will help you through the hard days ahead. Cherish the many memories.
I am so sorry to hear about Charlie. I thought he beat the cancer and was so sad it got the better of him. He was always so happy and had such fun stories. My sympathies to the whole family.
What another wonderful man that has left us for the best place of all. My father died in April and his injury left him unresponsive and in pain. Our Love never stopped, it possibly grew stronger in those final days. We knew it was time for him to pass, but sometimes I believe they hold on for us. They continue to fight until we’re ready for them to move on. That must be where the saying “Our loss, his gain” comes from. I don’t know what Charlie went thru to get to his eternal life but I told my dad that there were far greater things he could do for Us from heaven, than anything he could do for us on earth. Charlie brought me joy every time I saw him. He made me smile and laugh. I’m sure thats what he did for all the people waiting for him. So I’ll continue to smile, and laugh every time I think of him even though it will be thru tears. We so enjoyed our sunset cruise and celebration of life and friends in Aruba in 2002. We made memories! I’ll think of the same smile, laugh, and happiness on many beautiful sunsets here. Love to Deb, his kids, his grandkids and the rest of his family. Sincerely Jodi Volz
Thoughts and prayers to Charlie’s family.
I wish I had known him better since high school.📿🙇♀️
Our sincere condolences to the whole Johnson family. May God give your family Peace to know he is with his father in heaven.
With deepest sympathies. Wingen Farms
Our deepest sympathies in the loss of Charlie. He was a very good and happy individual. We have good memories in days gone by with Elmer & Bernice; Elmer and Charlie can catch up on farming nowadays! God’s great blessings and comfort to all the Johnson families.
My deepest sympathies go out to the Johnson family. I was blessed to have gotten to know Charlie thru each of our involvements in the cooperative system: his smile lit up every room he entered. God bless you all.
My sincerest condolences to the Charles Johnson family. He and I graduated High School from the same class and although I didn’t see him often, he had a way to make you feel like it was just yesterday. I will always remember that patented beaming smile and hearty laugh. R.I.P. Charlie
To the Johnson family sorry to hear of Charlie passing.May the peace which comes from the memories of love comfort you now and in the days ahead.
Our condolences to the Johnson family. So sorry to hear about Charlie’s passing. Hope that you can take a little comfort in the wonderful memories you had with him. Love, the Teske family
So sorry for your loss. Prayers for the Johnson family.
Charlie was a strong supporter of my education programs in cooperatives at University of Minnesota. Always smiling and asking good questions. He will be missed on CFS board and in his community. My condolences to his family.
You are all nestled gently in my thoughts and prayers. I met Charlie through softball and am blessed by having known him since, seeing him at township, farm, town and other gatherings and celebrations. It may sound trite to say a man was a good guy, but it’s far from trite when referring to Charlie. He exemplified being a good guy. I’ll miss seeing him here and there. I have great memories. To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die.
Charlie was a first class individual. He was far more concerned about giving back or promoting a cause than he ever was about recognition or personal gain. Christie and I always said if there were a few more Charlie Johnson’s the world would be a better place. I’ll miss our conversations and his infectious laugh. We will dearly miss this special man.
I always enjoyed seeing the Johnson Family at Commodity Classic each year. My team and I loved doing extra special touches for Charlie and Deb and your family. Charlie was always so gracious and a hoot to chat with. Charlie touched my heart, such a special guy and will keep him in my prayers. My deepest sympathy to all of the Johnson Family.
Our prayers and sympathy to Charlie’s family.
So sorry to hear, always a pleasure to visit with, he will be missed by many.