Lillian Victoria Johnson was born on July 16, 1916, in Osakis, Minn., to Sigurd Johnson and Marie Henningsgard Johnson.
She was raised on a farm outside Little Sauk, Minn., and as a girl attended school in Little Sauk and Sauk Center. She told of riding to school on the bus, which was a sled drawn by horses in the winter and a horse and wagon in the spring and fall, and of living with no electricity because at that time there were no power lines in northern Minnesota. After graduating from high school she attended teacher’s college, and then taught grade school classes in Minnesota until 1941. During those years she met a number of people, including a young man named Wayne Fjosee. Wayne was from Montana, and he and Lillian were married in Malta on December 31, 1941. Family legend has it that Wayne’s proposal included a reference to the tax saving they would have by marrying prior to January 1. The life that Lillian chose to lead from then on was a standard life for a woman of her time. After the war she and Wayne moved to Havre. Their daughter Karen was born there in 1945, their son Norman in 1948, and their son David in 1953. Lillian’s life in Havre from the 1950s through the 1970s consisted of raising her family, of being an active member of the First Lutheran and Messiah Lutheran churches, and of being an active member in the Order of Eastern Star. After she and Wayne retired, they traveled to Norway and spent winters in Sun City, Ariz. After Wayne died in 1980, Lilllian spent most of her time in her garden in Havre and being actively involved in church and Eastern Star activities. She would visit relatives in Minnesota and Washington in the spring and fall. When her daughter Karen died in 1998, she decided she should move west to be near her sons, so she left her hilltop home in Havre and went to live in Olympia, Wash. Lillian gave up her car and driver's license after she moved to Olympia because she said there were too many cars and too much traffic. Lillian Victoria Johnson Fjosee’s life drew peacefully to its close at her home in Olympia on May 17, 2008. She was 91 years 10 months and one day old. She is survived by sons, Norman and David; daughterin- law, Paula; grandchildren, Kirstin and Eric; her brother, Raymond Johnson of Wadena, Minn.; her sister, Gloria Johnson Bofferding of Minneapolis, Minn.; and a large number of nieces and nephews. Her family will miss her greatly. A memorial service will be held on September 4, 2008, at 2 p. m. at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Havre, followed by interment at Highland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, 5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250, Dallas, TX 75244.
