DeeAnn Marie Thorson Johnson

DeeAnn Johnson grew up in a small town in northeast South Dakota with her parents, Neil and Shirley Thorson, brothers, Kraig and Mark, and sister, Kristi. During high school she spent most of her time playing saxophone in the band, babysitting kids in the community, and working. DeeAnn met Dale at church in the spring of 1979 when she was 17 years old. They quickly became best friends and were married on June 6, 1982. In 1983 Dale and DeeAnn moved to Pierpont, South Dakota and DeeAnn was able to stay at home with her children. In the fifteen years DeeAnn, Dale and their four daughters, Annalise, Alicia, Danielle, and Brianna, lived in Pierpont, she taught kindergarten and second grade in Langford, South Dakota. Though her children were slowly growing up, DeeAnn made sure to continue to be a kid herself – always laughing, joking, playing pranks, and entertaining others with new voices.

In 1998, the family moved to Bondurant, Iowa where DeeAnn began teaching in the Bondurant-Farrar school system and became an active member of the Bondurant Federated Church, and it wasn’t long until she became an AWANA leader for third and fourth grade girls. While her daughters were growing up, she never missed a single sporting event, speech activity, or play no matter the circumstances. She was the type of woman who would give up everything to help out another person and was always “adopting” kids in the community to help provide love and basic necessities for them. DeeAnn had always been very passionate about teaching, and her position as a third grade teacher at Anderson Elementary was no exception. However, if you asked her, her main focus in life was being a mother, she said, "If my life ended tomorrow I don't think I'd really miss out on what I was meant to be."

DeeAnn was diagnosed with melanoma in June 2011 and fought long and hard for a year and a half, until her body could no longer take it. Throughout her life, DeeAnn had a faith in God that was unwavering, even after she was diagnosed. Her trust in the Lord was the main focus of her life and she was always sharing The Word with everyone she could. There are many words that describe DeeAnn Johnson: wife, mother, daughter, sister, teacher, friend, but one of the main words that come to mind is strength.