Joey, 79 years young, passed away Thursday, February 5, 2026, at Cottagewood Senior Communities in Rochester, Minn., after a battle with Alzheimer’s.
Joey was born Saturday, March 9, 1946, to Ernest and Clarrisa (Thompson) Johnson of Peterson, Minn. He was raised in Peterson and attended Peterson High School where he had a successful football career.
After school Joey had a variety of jobs, some of which included working at the Benson Feed Mill, construction, and farming. Fun fact, Joey still has a good amount of the farming equipment he used when farming over 40 years ago. However, Joey’s favorite thing and place was the outdoors. He was an avid outdoorsman, whether it be hunting, fishing, trapping, mushroom and ginseng hunting, looking and successfully finding arrowheads, bird watching, making beautiful walking sticks, beekeeping or simply walking through the woods it all brought him so much joy. He also had a love of gardening, spending a lot of time tending to his garden and sharing the fruits of his labor with friends and family either fresh, canned, or made into wine.
Joey is survived by his sister-in-law Janice (Larry) Johnson, three nephews: Brently, Shannon, and Erick Johnson; a niece, Deb Shold; and many cousins.
He is preceded in death by his parents Ernest and Clarissa, his brothers Rodney and Larry Johnson, and cousins.
We would like to thank Cottagewood Senior Communities and Gundersen Harmony Care Center for taking care of Joey in his final years.
A celebration of life will be held at Joey’s favorite watering hole, The Peterson American Legion on April 11, 2026, from 2-5 p.m.
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