Orville O. Johnson, age 79, of Wallace, SD, passed away on Friday, December 1, 2017, at his daughter's home in Aberdeen, SD. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 7, 2017, at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Wallace. Pastor Scott Dempster will officiate. Music will be provided by Dorothy Anderson as organist with Hannah Jepsen as soloist. The family is requested to meet at the church on Thursday by 10:00 a.m. for a prayer service.
Visitation will be at the Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. and prior to services at the church on Thursday.
Burial will be at the Telemarken Cemetery in rural Wallace. Military graveside honors will be conducted by Codington County Post #17 of the American Legion, of Watertown. Honorary pallbearers will be all of Orville's friends and neighbors. Active pallbearers will be: Jordan Marble, Glen Prouty, Mark Fredrick, Rod Clausen, Jim Knudson and Jordan Clausen.
Orville was born on July 5, 1938, at Webster, SD, to Ingvald A. and Gladys J. (Thompson) Johnson. He attended Ustrud #34 for the first through the eighth grade. Orville also had to learn English in school, as the family only spoke Norwegian in their home. He graduated from Wallace High School in 1956 and entered the US Navy, serving his country from 1956 to 1960. Orville was honorably discharged in 1962.
On March 6, 1962, Orville married Janice Gulbraa at Wallace, SD. The couple lived in Redfield, SD, and Orville worked at Sun Shine Dairy. They moved to a farm near Wallace where Orville farmed before he started trucking for Ted Moe in 1977. He eventually purchased his own truck and was an owner/operator until his retirement in 2004.
He was a member of Calvary Lutheran Church. Orville enjoyed collecting pens and pencils, watching TV, solving word search puzzles and playing cards with his neighbors. He also enjoyed mowing the yard and sawing wood. Orville loved all of his animals and collecting rocks for his niece and nephew from all of the many places that his truck travels took him.
Orville is survived by his wife, Janice, of Wallace; four children: Julie (Albert) Prado, Sr. of Ft. Laramie, WY, Cindy (Kelly) Hamilton of Cheyenne, WY, Mickey Johnson of Brookings, SD, and Jenny Johnson (Todd Bistodeau) of Aberdeen, SD; six grandchildren: Albert Prado, Jr., Cora Prouty, Brenda Gibson, Eric Prado, Jennifer Fredrick and Vanessa Duran; and 15 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Avinal Marble; and one nephew, Gary Marble.
Service Details.
Visitation
When: December 6, 2017 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel
Address: 208 3rd St SW De Smet SD SD 57231
Service
When: December 7, 2017 10:30am
Location: Calvary Lutheran Church
Address: 606 Shannon Street Wallace, SD 57272
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