Gregory LaVerne Johnson

Most recently of Wayzata, MN Presbyterian Homes Senior Living Community, formerly of Golden Valley and Minneapolis, with retirement years in the Pine River-Brainerd Lakes area passed away September 12, 2026, with family surrounding him with their love. The expertise and compassionate care of the ICU team helped make his final moments peaceful and without struggle. The 11-year battle with an autoimmune disease is over and his beautiful spirit journeys on, thanks be to God...Greg's 84 years were full of energetic involvement with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, church, community service, civic engagement, travel, fun and more.

Greg is survived by his wife Mary after 61 years of their precious time together; son Douglas; daughter Kristin; granddaughters Miriam (Lillian), Selma (Likhwa), and Lena; brother Allen; sister Cheryl; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and their families.

He was preceded in death by parents Knute and Lois; father-and mother-in-law Carl and Alice; sister-in-law Dianne; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Karl and Lynne; and aunts and uncles.

A memorial service followed by a buffet reception and celebration of life will be held on

November 21 at Lakewood Cemetery, 3600 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis, MN

Memorial Service: from 1-2 pm in the Memorial Chapel

Reception: from 2-4 pm in the Garden Mausoleum

Dress to celebrate Greg's life

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to First Congregational United Church of Christ, Brainerd, 415 Juniper Street, Brainerd, MN 56401 or to an organization of your choice.

CELEBRATION OF A LIFE WELL LIVED

GREGORY (GREG) JOHNSON

1941 - 2026

BEGINNINGS:

Greg was a New Year's Eve baby, born at home in his parent's upstairs apartment in south Minneapolis just fourteen months after his older brother Allen. He moved from being the 'baby' to the middle child six years later with the birth of his sister Cheryl. They were a Norwegian-American family with extended family mainly living in the southeastern area of Minnesota. In the 1950's his family moved to the Canton-Mabel area where he attended the local middle and high school. Greg was an excellent student academically and participated in many sports, music and other activities in addition to working part time at local farms before and after school and during summer vacations. His family's home outside of town, consisted of an old farmhouse, barn, garden plots, some animals, pasture and woods with plenty of area to explore (and do chores!). After graduation he attended two years at Winona State College, taking all of the science and math courses they offered. He fondly remembered playing tuba in a polka dance hall band on weekends. He decided to transfer (along with a good school friend) to Colorado State in Fort Collins, CO to further his education in the scientific field. There he met many new friends, combining both classes and working. After graduation, he was awarded a National Defense Education Act scholarship and fellowship. This scholarship allowed Greg to continue his studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, working on his Masters Degree in Chemistry. It was there he met his future wife, Mary (from a German-American family in Chicago) who was an undergraduate in her junior year studying to become a teacher.

FAMILY AND CAREER:

Greg and Mary met on a blind date arranged by mutual friends. They became better acquainted during the next few months. In January at the beginning of Spring semester of her junior year, Mary left campus to participate in a semester abroad program in Europe. They regularly exchanged letters to keep in touch. During her senior year they continued to deepen their relationship and married in June 1965 shortly after graduation. Greg began working on a PhD in Chemistry at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana while Mary was hired to teach a fourth-grade class. After completing the coursework for his PhD and starting work on his thesis, his PhD Advisor had a heart attack, which was a major disruption. Greg reassessed his options and switched to Purdue's Master of Science in Business Administration two-year program. After graduating from that program, he was recruited to begin his career with General Mill's Chemical Division in Lafayette, Indiana. Their first child, Douglas, was born there in January 1968.

Shortly after he joined General Mills, they moved the entire Division, as well as his family, to Minneapolis. Greg and Mary found a house in Golden Valley that became their home for the next thirty years. Their second child, Kristin, was born there in October 1969. They joined Valley Community Presbyterian Church which also became an important part of their family's lives during that time. Greg's career with General Mills was mainly focused on new product development, which eventually involved quite a bit of travel first in Europe developing a network of distributors and later in Japan setting up a joint venture company. General Mills then sold the Chemical Division to a German chemical company, Henkel, Inc. Greg decided it was the right time to look for a smaller local firm and accepted the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Osmonics, Inc., a reverse osmosis company, increasing its growth and profits and developing its distributor network. Next, he decided to follow his entrepreneurial bent and use his experience to start his own company, Filtra Tech Systems, Inc, a Manufacturer's Representative and Distributor business designing filtration systems and selling filters for industrial use.

As Owner and President, Greg treated his employees with respect and fairness, creating by his own example a climate of hard work done collaboratively with open communication and good humor. His office door was always open with the sound of laughter often drifting through the suite of offices. He was patient in training the young sales team, mentoring them as they learned the skills required. Mary also worked in the company as Office Manager. After successfully running his business for eighteen years, Greg decided it was an opportune time to sell the company and retire while he was still young enough to shift gears and engage in a more relaxed lifestyle, allowing time for both leisure pursuits as well as volunteer work.

RETIREMENT:

Years earlier Greg and Mary purchased property north of Pine River, MN and built a cabin where the family spent weekends and vacations, joined by extended family members and friends. The land is nestled between two small lakes and is bordered on one side by the Pine River, which empties into the Whitefish chain and the Mississippi River. It was the ideal location for their retirement years. They built a retirement home on the same site as the cabin reusing much of the wood paneling and retaining the original fireplace. Over the next two decades it became their little 'Paradise on Earth.' They sold their Golden Valley home and began their active retirement. Their daughter had lived for many years with her family in the Middle East. Now Greg and Mary had time to visit them for an extended time each winter and Kris and her daughters spent part of their summer vacations at the lake, which helped build strong bonds with their granddaughters.

In addition to travel adventures throughout Europe, the Middle East, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia, they were active members of a newly formed Presbyterian Church in Crosslake and later at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Brainerd. Much of their time was spent on environmental preservation and conservation efforts. Greg served on the Board of the Lake Hattie Association for many years, using his technical skills to help collect data for their water monitoring program, which would provide over time, a record of what was happening to the quality of the water in the lake. He also served on the Boards of other organizations, such as the Pine River Watershed Association, Pine River Golf Club, Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project and more. Greg helped Mary with her passion for organic vegetable, perennial, and fruit gardening, building fencing, drip irrigation systems, structural supports (and weeding!!). They installed a large ground mount solar panel array. Looking to the future they put their 200-acre property of forest, wetlands, lakeshore and land along the Pine River into a Conservation Easement with restrictions on development to preserve habitat for the many other creatures, flora and fauna sharing the land, air and waters.

When Greg came down with a systemic autoimmune disease of unknown origin, in order to find medical specialists that could help manage the condition, he turned to the University of MN Clinic and Surgery Center near downtown Minneapolis. That began the process of moving back to the Twin Cities.

POST RETIREMENT:

Greg and Mary purchased a condo downtown that was a place to stay for doctor appointments. Coincidentally, it also served as home base for their daughter and granddaughters when the oldest two enrolled at Macalester College in St. Paul MN. When Greg's condition worsened, they sold their lake home and moved to the condo full time while investigating Senior Living Communities and waiting for an opening. In February 2026 they moved to a Presbyterian Homes Senior Living Community in Wayzata, MN. Greg passed away on September 12, 2026. His body had weakened but his spirit remained strong to the end. Greg truly used his God-given talents to the full during his 84 years on earth!