Eleanor D. Johnson

Eleanor D. Granstrom Johnson, 86, Moorhead, was welcomed into the arms of her Heavenly Father on Sunday, October 10, 2004. She had been residing at Eventide Lutheran Home in Moorhead, MN. Eleanor Granstrom was born December 18, 1917, the only child of C. E. and Della Granstrom. Born two miles south of Appam, ND, during a prairie blizzard, she later graduated from high school in Zahl, ND, and then attended Minot State Teachers College, Minot, ND. Following a courtship that included a number of church picnics, she married the love of her life, Cecil M. Johnson, the morning of Christmas Eve, 1941. The farmer's daughter and the local high school teacher were wed in the small, basement-only Lutheran Free Church in Appam. During their years together in service to the Lord and His church, Eleanor was often Sunday School Superintendent, taught hundreds of children "Jesus Loves Me", led Vacation Bible School, and sang. In her lilting soprano, she sang on the radio, sang in choirs, sang for countless funerals, and sang her treasured gospel hymns in her kitchen. She and her husband, Cecil, would often sing duets. He said he just held the music for her. It wasn't true. For over 50 years, a special interest of Eleanor's was the sponsorship of Korean orphans through World Vision. She served on the Board of the Comstock House and was a C-400 member. She is survived by her husband, Pastor Cecil Johnson; her children, Kathryn Benson, Moorhead, Pastor Timothy Susan Johnson, Anoka, MN, Sita Norman Johnson, Richfield, MN; 8 grandchildren, Jonathan Jessica Benson, Matthew Lia Benson, Peter Becca Benson, Micah Amy Jo Benson, Andrew Maren Johnson, Anna Johnson, Rebecca Rick Blood and Marjorie Johnson and 7 great grandchildren, Annika, Kai, Ava, Gabriel, Luke, Rachel and Aaron. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to: The Cecil and Eleanor Johnson Scholarship at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN or Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, MN.