Miles Delano Johnson

Miles Delano Johnson, age 87, of Crosslake, MN, passed away peacefully on December 5th, 2020 surrounded by love. He lived the last 9 months with his daughter, Lynette and husband, Bryan in Brooklyn Park, MN. Survived by wife, Patricia Ann, of 66 years and 8 children; Lynette Bourcy (Bryan), Theresa Thompson, Michael Johnson (Jill), Charles Johnson (Faye), Edward Johnson (Pam), Jeanine Smith (Mark), Christine Gott (Greg), Daniel Johnson, 19 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, sister, Beverly Peterson (Harry), and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Marvin Johnson.

Miles met the love of his life in Nisswa, MN and she immediately followed him to La Rochelle, France, where he was stationed in the army. They married September 24th, 1954. Miles & Pat raised 8 children in Crystal, MN where he worked 32 years before retiring as the Finance Director at the city of Crystal. In addition, he was self-employed doing income tax preparation for many people for over 50 years. He also started a tree stump removal business and trapped to provide those little “extras”. Miles worked hard for so many years to provide for his family yet always made time for us all. When he was not working, he spent summer weekends with his wife and kids at their cabin, in Crosslake, MN or during hunting season, with the boys at his “hunting shack” in Western MN. He loved the outdoors, sports and anything to do with numbers. At the age of 58, he retired and built his dream retirement lake home down the road from his cabin in Crosslake, MN. He quickly adapted to retirement by getting involved in the community. Miles was the treasurer of the Northern MN Ducks Unlimited chapter, founded an investment club, was on many boards at Crosslake Lutheran Church and was the Lake Advocate. He enjoyed fishing in his trusty Lund boat accompanied by one of his kids, grandkids or his dog and loved berry picking in the woods for those precious raspberries and blueberries. He continued to do tax preparation throughout his retirement as he wanted to keep his mind sharp, and that he did. Miles was wise and loved to share his knowledge with everyone. He was a storyteller and simply loved people, especially his family. How do we honor and say good-bye to such an amazing father who sacrificed so much for his family? How will we function without our pillar of strength and knowledge? We say “We will be okay as you raised us with love, values and the knowledge needed to navigate this ever-changing world.” We say “We will continue to make you proud.” We say “Thank you for fighting and staying with us even though your body was tired.” And we say “We love you and miss you more than you will ever know. Lord, take care of our Dad, until we meet again.”

Due to COVID restrictions, funeral arrangements to follow at a later date.