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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Meet your neighbor: Linda Johnson
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Meet Mt. Union resident Linda Johnson. Linda has taught at WMU for five years and has many ties to the community.
Linda was born in Burlington, the youngest child and only daughter of Virgil and Jeneva (Flaharty) Johnson. She has three brothers: Richard (or “Butch”), Ron, and Dan.
“My Dad wanted a second cup of coffee before going to the hospital and I almost arrived in the elevator,” Linda shared about her birth.
A 1967 graduate of WMU, Linda went on to attend Central College in Pella where she earned her B.S. degree with a major in Home Economics and a minor in Political Science. Linda held several jobs throughout the years.
“Detasseling was my first real job besides mowing and babysitting,” she said. “I was a teacher, a clerk at Ben Franklin and at an interior decorating store. I also served as city clerk, pumped gas, was a short order cook, and unloaded grain at the Mt. Union elevator, and was a para educator.”
Her various jobs required her to stock shelves, run a cash register, and help clients at stores with purchases and design elements. During her teaching career, she taught family consumer science and worked with students who needed extra guidance. Wow. What a resume!
Despite all her previous positions, teaching was Linda’s primary career, which she pursued for 40 years before retiring in 2012. During her teaching career, she taught in Morning Sun, Wapello, Mediapolis, Boyden-Hull. Spirit Lake and WMU school districts. Besides Mt. Union, Linda lived in Hull and Spirit Lake before returning to Mt. Union where she has lived since 1983.
Linda met her former husband, Ron Russell, while living in Spirit Lake. They were introduced by Linda’s best friend. They were married from 1975 until 2002. Following their divorce, Linda moved back home.
They had one child, Jacob Russell, also a graduate of WMU. Following graduation, he moved to Ohio where he lives with his wife Julie, who is from Morning Sun, and their two children, Hannah and Wade. Jacob is an accountant at Danis in Dayton, Ohio and his wife, Julie, is a kindergarten teacher in the Dayton area. Linda regularly drives out to visit them twice a year.
Like many other small town residents, Linda likes the easy-going, relaxing atmosphere of living in a small town where people help each other, but she feels a disadvantage of small-town life is “everyone knows everyone’s business.”
When asked what she was looking forward to when she retired, Linda replied, “I’m busier now than when I worked full time. I also love sleeping in and rolling over on snowy winter days and going back to sleep under a warm quilt. I enjoy working in my garden, doing wood projects and in the past, I did quilts, sewing, embroidery, knitting and crocheting. Now I’m getting into junk journals and glue books. And I like to read a good book on a rainy day with a cuppa, with a cat on my lap while sitting under a warm blanket.”
Linda said she has always enjoyed crafting, as did her mom.
“Later in life, we both enjoyed quilting, making quilts to sell and for family. But when she passed, so did my passion. Now I do several small projects of all types,” Linda said.
Another of Linda’s passions is gardening.
”My dad was a great gardener. People should remember his garden in Mt. Union. ‘No weed dare grow in his garden!’“ stated Linda, adding that she and her mom canned all they could and one year they processed over 3,000 jars of produce.
Today, Linda gardens on raised beds.
“I love the feel of soil on my feet and enjoy gardening on a much smaller scale,” she said.
Linda has a love for all animals.
“I’m one cat short of being crazy,” she said with a chuckle. “You can tell a lot about a person from how they treat animals,” she added.
Through the years, Linda has owned cooountless cats, dogs and one horse, ‘Thunder’ that people in Mt. Union will remember.
Linda traveled to Europe in the ‘70s where she drove 3,000 miles in 21 days.
“I’ve done some short trips in the U.S. in addition to driving to Ohio to visit my son,” she said.
Riding the train to Glacier National Park is still on her bucket list.
People who don’t listen and follow directions and being rude are Linda’s pet peeves. Her advice to youth: “Find a job you enjoy, love, share, learn something every day.”
If she had the power to change anything, Linda answered, “People respecting people, taking care of all God’s creatures.”
Linda was a DJ in college where she had her own radio program. During one college course, Linda had to give an impromptu speech on her goals.
”I listed a home and family, teaching and writing a book. I have completed all, and life is good.”
Something she knows now that she wishes she would have know then: “Thinks will turn out okay.”
“My mom always said, ‘When you cease to dream, you cease to live.’ I think that is a good mantra and the golden rule. I enjoy my life now, sharing and caring. I hope others can be as lucky as I am. I have family, a home and my health.”
