In Memory

Jerome Johnson

Jerome Johnson

Jerome H. (Jerry) Johnson, of Victor, Montana, passed away Thursday, April 18, 2013, at age 73.  Jerome was born January 19, 1940 to Howard and Anne (Stark) Johnson in Minneapolis, MN.  As was the case with many of us classmates, Jerry attended elementary school in Minneapolis and moved to St. Louis Park to attend junior and senior high schools. 

Following graduation he attended the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  At the University, according to his wife Germaine, Jerry discovered that to major in art he needed to complete courses which were not particularly to his liking, like art history.  He said Art History disgusted him; he just wanted to paint and draw.  So he ended his pursuit of a degree and decided to attend the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  This allowed him to do art the way he thought art should be done.  In the end, regarding his art, he was essentially self-taught.

He served in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in 1967.  While in the Army he became quite a marksman with a rifle.  He used that skill his entire life and was an avid hunter.  Montana served as an ideal spot for hunting, and Jerry had lots of racks of animals hanging about his home.  He and Germaine lived in a house over 100 years old.  They loved old houses and they were perfectly happy enjoying other old buildings that they came across during their lives together.  Their home was originally owned by a cousin of Mark Twain.

Jerome and Germaine were married on October 6, 1972.  Jerome had stayed single until age 32, when he met Germaine, whose brother worked with Jerome’s older brother Bryce; in that way they were introduced.  Germaine was a hair dresser her entire life and after moving to Montana, Jerry worked at Bonner Mill and at a mill in Darby.  He cut lumber at those two sites for two years; but the wood industry was on the decline there, so they looked for other opportunities.  Then they seized the chance to own and operate a small store that had belonged to a gentleman named Kenneth Casey.  They kept the name, “Casey’s Store” and sold groceries and gas there for the next 12 years, then sold it in 1986.

Jerry had always wanted to return to doing art, which had always remained his first love.  So he painted wildlife pictures and sold them at art shows that were held in hotels in western cities.  Jerry and Germaine would pack some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and travel to various hotels where custom artists would gather for various showings.  Each artist rented a room.  They set up display panels and they sold their art works right out of those rooms.  At other times Jerry and Germaine would pack their sandwiches and travel to their cabin in the mountains on a small track of land that Jerry had purchased.  They led a good and quiet life.  According to Germaine, “Jerry never bragged about himself.”  He was a plain and loving man who loved the quiet, outdoor life.  He painted it, earned his livelihood thereby, and hunted its animals.  He attended several art workshops held for Cowboy-Artists of America in various western cities.  It was at those workshops that Jerry met his peers; and it was there that he found and appreciated the attention and respect that his peers gave him for his own capabilities in wildlife art.  If interested, you can check out his website: www.jhjohnson-wildlifeart.com.  We hope his wife keeps the website up long into the future.  Jerry was quite successful at his art, winning many awards and making many good friends in the art community.  He really enjoyed it all.  His passion was western landscapes and wildlife – and Montana had plenty of both.

Jerry and Germaine had two children, a boy and a girl.  The daughter is a hospice nurse in Detroit, and the son is a combination of a health professional and an almond orchard owner in Fresno, CA.  They have 3 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Jerry fell ill last fall (2012).  He thought it started as an aftermath of an infected tooth.  He had a lump on his neck, below his jaw.  They initially thought it has something to do with that tooth problem.  But it turned out to be Lymphoma (a cancer of the lymph glands).  In pursuing a cure, his doctors advised a whole body scan, which showed a silver-dollar sized tumor near his stomach.  He then endured chemo treatments to kill the cancer, which made him quite sick.  In the end it was those chemo treatments that caused his heart to give out and although his family “tried to keep him, he could not stay.”

Jerome was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother Bryce (class of 1956, St. Louis Park).  He is survived by his wife, Germaine; his sister, Carol (Arthur) Doten; children Lori (Larry) Buckmiller and Lance (April) Johnson; grandchildren, Chad, Amber (Cris) and Brian (Bailee); great-grandchildren, Cameron and Tristan; niece and nephew, Amanda and Clark; a few cousins from “The Range” in northern Minnesota, and many friends.

Jerry was raised a Catholic, but was not an avid practitioner of that faith during his life.  But in the end, in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, his family found a Catholic Priest in town to come and give Jerry his last rites.  The Priest did a nice job, according to Germaine, of providing a final memorial service for Jerry at the funeral home and a reception was held at the St. Mary’s Mission Catholic Church Family Center.

Those of us who graduated with Jerome Johnson in 1958 will always remember him as a tall, quiet guy who was simply nice to everybody who met him.  He could have played sports; but didn’t.  Instead, we recall that he was a favorite of the art teachers, because he always liked to draw.  It was there that he excelled.  And it was his art that sustained him the last 25 years of his life.  With art as his passion in high school and art as his passion since 1987, for Jerry his art was almost like “coming home.”







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