Obituary/Grayce “Elmae” Johnson, 98

Elmae was born in Hallock, Minnesota to Carl and Ella Spangrud on September 12, 1926 and was the oldest of 8 children.  Her father was a farmer working farms in the Karlstad, Minnesota area most of her childhood.  Elmae attended a small country school for elementary school.  She graduated from Karlstad High School in 1944, and began attending Bemidji State Teacher’s College  (Bemidji, Minnesota) in the fall of 1944.  While out hiking with classmates in the fall of 1945, she was hit by a car and lost her left leg below the knee.  She returned to college in 1946, but shortly thereafter (because of a severe shortage of rural teachers) she applied to teach in St. Vincent, Minnesota and later in Lake Bronson, Minnesota.

In December of 1949 she married Arnold Johnson in Denver, Colorado and raised three sons.  Following her divorce in 1966, she returned to college at the University of Utah and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education.  Elmae taught for 27 years in the Granite School District in Salt Lake City, Utah, and retired from teaching in 1993.

Elmae was proud of her Scandinavian heritage.  Her father was of Norwegian descent and her mother was Swedish and visited these countries twice.  In retirement, she traveled quite a bit and became an accomplished painter.  She was active in the Lutheran Church throughout her life; being a charter member of Atonement Lutheran Church (Salt Lake), which later became St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church.  She was a member of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church following a move to Henderson, Nevada in 2002.

Elmae is survived by her three sons: Mark (Brenda), Mike (Paul), and Mitchell (Sheri), her granddaughter Amanda (Mark) and grandson Dustin (Mitchell); along with great granddaughters Halina and Kesha and great-great granddaughter Rayma.  She is also survived by brothers Don and EllKay, sisters Janice and Judy as well as numerous generations of cousins, nieces and nephews.  Elmae was predeceased by brother Charles and sisters Beverly and Carolee.

Memorial services will be held at a later date.