Johnsie "Tootsie" May (Bishop) Nielson

Johnsie passed from this life on February 22, 2020. She is survived by her husband, Carl Nielson, her 3 children: Mike Nielson (Lyndi) of Provo, Utah; Doug Nielson (Mary) of Lyme, Connecticut; and John Nielson of Wheat Ridge, Colorado; and by her 7 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Johnsie May Bishop Nielson was born on May 1, 1928 to James William Bishop and Minnie May Williamson Bishop in Union, South Carolina. She was the youngest of 10 (8 living) children in her family: Alison (Bill), Anne, Frank (Pat), Dorothy (Dot), Paul (Punk), Frances (Fran), Margaret (Noot), and Johnsie (Toot).

Johnsie was 3 years old when her family made the difficult journey from South Carolina to Gooding, Idaho in her uncle’s Model-A Ford.

During her youth, Johnsie was active in Girl Scouts and 4-H. Johnsie was a hard worker, picking strawberries and doing other farm work as a young girl and working as a secretary in her teens and early adult years.

On Thanksgiving Day (November 25) in 1948, Johnsie married Carl Calvin Nielson. Their first son, Mike, was born in Wendell, Idaho. They moved to Logan where they had their second son, Doug.

After Carl’s graduation from Utah State, they were assigned to San Francisco, California, later to Norfolk, Virginia and then to Groton, Connecticut where their third son, John, was born. When John was still an infant, Carl was assigned for nearly seven months in the Mediterranean and Johnsie took care of the family. Next, they lived in Boonton, New Jersey while Carl worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories. It was there that Johnsie again took care of the family while Carl was on assignment in a submarine for a record-setting 60 days. They moved to Granville, Ohio and lived there for several years after which they moved to Denver, Colorado.

Johnsie and Carl lived in Tehran, Iran for a couple years while Carl worked with AT&T designing a new telephone system for the country. They returned to Colorado in 1979 because of the Revolution in Iran.

Johnsie helped her boys in Scouting, music, and sports. Throughout her life, she volunteered with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, school book programs, and United Methodist Women events and organizations to name just a few.

In 2014, Johnsie was baptized by her son Mike with assistance from grandsons Jacob and Isaac into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). She and Carl were sealed in the Denver Temple in 2015.

Johnsie was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and will be missed greatly.

Her funeral will be on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 2:00 pm at the LDS Church at 12995 W. 72nd Avenue in Arvada. There will be a viewing beforehand from 1:00–1:45 pm at the same address. An additional viewing will be at 5:30–7:30 pm on Friday, February 28 in the Ponderosa Room at the Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary at 7777 W. 29th Avenue in Wheat Ridge.

A graveside service will be performed in her hometown of Gooding, Idaho.