Loren Johnson passed away on the afternoon of May 23, 2025, in Great Falls, Montana.
He was born on October 13th, 1939, in the tiny town of Brocket, North Dakota, to Ernest Johnson and Etta Moilanen. His father was a lumberjack, so Loren spent most of his early years in and around the forests of Northern Minnesota. He and his mother and brother Darryl moved back to Brocket, where his mother remarried Julius Nelson. They then moved to Lakota, North Dakota.
Loren liked music. He played tuba in quite a few all-state bands in high school and later went to Valley City State Teacher’s College, where he majored in Elementary Education and took many music courses.
In the meantime, Loren met the love of his life, Shirley Johnson. They married and had two wonderful children, Craig and Cyndra. Loren and Shirley married in 1960 and have spent the last 64 years together.
Loren taught elementary school for 25 years, mostly in Montana, apart from three years in North Dakota. He loved his students. He also directed a band for 22 years, mainly the elementary band at Greenfield on the Greenfield Bench near Fairfield. He was very proud of his elementary band. He also drove a school bus and was active in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
In the summers, Loren loved to go to Yellowstone Park and work as a bus driver/commentator. Loren liked to tell jokes and entertained his bus passengers with witty stories. He did this for 14 summers.
After retiring from teaching, he went into bus driving, working for such companies as Intermountain, Karst Stage, and Great Falls Transit. Loren had a particular passion (hatred) for Bluebird buses. He even wrote a song about them! At the age of 62, Loren called it a day and fully retired.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley; one daughter, Cyndra (Michael Kunz) of Pocatello, Idaho; and his son, Craig (Jami) of Great Falls, Montana; two brothers, Michael and Jay Nelson; two granddaughters; and two great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Ernest and Etta; his stepfather, Julius; two brothers, Darryl and Randall; and his sister, Crystal.
Loren wants to be remembered with joy and no sorrow. It was a pretty good life.
Author: Staff
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