No ordinary farm girl!

Press Release for Dorothea Johnson--for those of you who were on the medical team, I just want to let you read about this amazing woman you worked beside!

Dorothea E. Johnson

8/8/1932 – 14/11/2012

            Dorothea E. Johnson was born in a small farm town west of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  After completing high school, Dorothea went to nursing school, entering a profession that she pursued for 53 years.  Dorothea, however, was far more than an “ordinary” nurse.  As she lived and worked in rural areas, she was an Emergency Room nurse (casualty) and a “flight nurse”, flying with patients in small airplanes and helicopters to hospitals in larger cities.

After a near fatal incident on a flight where the pilot passed out at the controls, Dorothea decided to get her own pilot’s license, which she received in 1982.  As a pilot, Dorothea began flying patients on her own, in Cessna and Piper aircraft.  Even after retirement about 5 years ago, Dorothea continued to volunteer full time as a nurse at a clinic in her hometown of Overgaard, Arizona.

            Dorothea (nee Shockley) married Kenneth Warren Johnson, originally of Willmar, Minnesota, on Sept. 27, 1952.  Kenneth had served during World War II in the US Navy, in the South Pacific front, until 1946.  After the war, he worked for Western Electric, installing telephone equipment across the country, and was involved in installing the first long distance (STD) service in the USA.  In 1956, Kenneth enrolled in the Northern Baptist Seminary in Chicago, and became an ordained minister in 1961, serving as pastor of Baptist churches in numerous states.  Kenneth was also a certified elementary school teacher, and taught for over 35 years, including the last 20 years on Native American (Navajo and Hopi Indian tribes) reservations, before passing away in 2008.

            Dorothea and Kenneth were very active members of the First Southern Baptist Church of Overgaard, Arizona, and also involved with numerous Christian ministries including Wycliffe Bible Translators, Bibles For The World, and others.  In addition, Dorothea and Kenneth were avid motorcyclists, both riding Harley Davidson bikes, and even into her late 70’s, Dorothea continued to ride a motorcycle.

            While Dorothea and Kenneth did not have any biological children, they adopted a son, David, and a daughter Diana, both of whom live in Kentucky.  In addition, they took a young Navajo student of Kenneth’s, Benjamin Yazzie, into their home, and raised him like their own son.  Benjamin is now also a pastor, living in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.