George Cameron Johnson passed away at the Devon Long Term Care Centre on Nov. 22, 2021, at the age of 86 after a more than two-decade battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
George was a caring, loving husband, father and grandfather who spent 75 years farming in the Consort, Alberta area.
George came into the world in the middle of the Depression on Sept. 21, 1935, in the Consort and Loyalist, Alta. area to parents Torgeir Johnson, a local farmer and mother Mary, a Registered Nurse. Together with George’s older sister Mary Catherine, they farmed an area of land about 6 km north of Loyalist about 16 km west of Consort. Both Mary Catherine and George attended school in Loyalist until they travelled to Consort to finish high school.
In 1962, George married Doris Butler, a Grade 5 teacher who moved to Consort from Saskatchewan.
They also welcomed son Stacy in 1968 and daughter Andrea in 1972. Eight months after Andrea was born, Doris died of complications from breast cancer.
In 1974, George married Marilyn Kroeger (another teacher) and in 1975 they welcomed daughter Sherri to the family.
If he wasn’t working and running the farm, George served on the local hospital and school boards. He was also a long-time member of the Consort Lions Club, pitching in to help the community wherever he could.
He also sang in the Knox United Church choir and Christmas Eve celebrations — he was the best singer in the family.
George loved sports. If he wasn’t curling, he also played baseball in his younger years. He taught his kids how to skate, play softball or baseball and hockey. The family also cross-country skied making their own tracks in the fields and pastures around the farm and at Gooseberry Lake Provincial Park. After one of Marilyn’s school trips to Valley Ski Hill north of Castor in the early ‘80s, downhill skiing was added to the mix. The entire family learned how to ski and soon they went on yearly ski trips to Nakiska, Lake Louise, and Marmot Basin.
Marilyn encouraged George to leave the farm for two weeks every summer in early July for vacation. On numerous occasions, the family travelled to the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, Victoria and Vancouver, California, Arizona and Mexico.
George was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2000, but that didn’t stop him from travelling or enjoying life.
After the kids left home to attend university, George and Marilyn went on cruises and bus trips in Europe, Brazil, Alaska, and the Panama Canal.
After Marilyn retired from teaching in 1999 and as George wound down the farming operations, they spent winters in Mesa, Arizona beginning in 2002 until 2017. It was a place where they could play golf three times a week and enjoy the desert sunshine and made many long-term friends.
In 2011, they sold the farm and moved to Spruce Grove, Alta. where they built a house.
George is predeceased by his parents, Torgeir and Mary, first wife Doris and brother-in-law Austin Carpenter.
George is survived his wife Marilyn, son Stacy (Cathy), daughters Andrea, Sherri (Edwin), brother-in-law Dale Linn (Wendy), Dale’s children Rob and Brian, along with five grandchildren, Megan, Cam, Everett, Nathan, and Matt and by his sister Mary Catherine Carpenter, niece Carolyn (Todd).
At George’s request, a funeral will not be held.
Donations can be made to the Parkinson’s Association of Alberta or a charity of your choice.
“Keep singing George and ringing your bells; we are listening.” We love you!
Serenity Funeral Service
Spruce Grove
780 962 2749
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Renee Carroll-Kampman
My condolences to my dear friend Sherri and all her family as you mourn. You are in my thoughts and prayers. May the memories of him and your time together warm your heart and bring you comfort and healing.