John Ernest Johnson
John Ernest Johnson, 74, of Medford, died peacefully on July 16, 2025 in his home surrounded by family and friends after an eight-and-a-half-year battle with multiple myeloma. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, July 28 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church with Father Patrick McConnell officiating. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until the time of service at 11 a.m. A luncheon will follow at the Holy Rosary cafeteria.
John was born June 8, 1951, to Ernest and Helen Johnson. He was raised on a farm west of Dorchester and graduated from Colby Senior High in 1969. When he was 20, John looked across the crowded Tombstone Bar and saw the woman who was to become his best friend and the love of his life. Kathi Hartl saw him at the same time and said to her friends, “Hands off, he’s mine!” After being frustrated that he wouldn’t ask her to dance (it turned out that despite his great athleticism, John was not a dancer), Kathi found a way to play pool with John. He asked her to go waterskiing the next day. A year later, they were married in a joyous bash that included bridesmaids wearing dresses in every color of the rainbow, family flying in from around the world, and food and dancing until the late hours.
John’s first job was working at the Clover Hill Co-op Cheese factory at the age of 16. After graduation, he worked for Menards for 13 years. The last 26 years of his career, he worked for Meyer Buildings, where he was known for his hard work, humility, honesty, and unwavering commitment to his job as the Manager. He was a workaholic, viewing work as his responsibility to his family – to provide. But he also enjoyed hard work and having something physical to show for it at the end of the day. He never shied away from work or his responsibilities to his family.
Kathi and John raised three children – Mike, Matt, and Crystal – and hosted exchange students, Ricardo Bueno (Brazil), Martin Borgs (Sweden), Bernd Kohn (Germany), and Ivan (Croatia) for 10 months during the school year. They also hosted Emma from Spain for a summer. John and Kathi enjoyed attending the kids’ athletic events.
In his professional life, John managed the construction of wooden pole buildings, garages, and recreational buildings. After he retired, wood became his art. He made beautiful pieces of carved furniture for his family and would happily give visitors an in-depth tour of his creations and of his shop. The shop was spotless, with even the smallest scraps of wood fitted into perfect cubes with no wasted space.
Retirement was also when he started the life of adventure he had only dreamed of. An avid reader who kept a globe by his armchair so he could see the places he was reading about, he told his grandson, “You can go anywhere in the world by reading books.” His last day of work was May 14, 2010. Three days later, he and Kathi got on their tandem bike and headed west, starting their adventures of bicycling across the United
1951-2025
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On that first trip in 2010, they bicycled from Dorchester to Anacortes, Wash. In 2011, they bicycled from Dorchester to Bar Harbor, Maine. That wasn’t enough, so in 2012 they bicycled from International Falls, Minn., to Baton Rouge, La. That still wasn’t enough for John, so he found even more adventures: hiking, biking, and rafting the Grand Canyon with Kathi; jumping out of an airplane with Matt; climbing Mount Hood with his brothers; and climbing Mount Rainier with his brothers and his son, Matt.
On those 28,000 miles on their tandem, John and Kathi made friends with people from all over the world. Those beautiful memories and the special bond of friendship with others who shared their passion for bicycling helped sustain them after John’s 2016 diagnosis of multiple myeloma forced them to quit riding because he could no longer keep his balance.
For almost nine years, John fought with strength, dignity, and generosity, enduring numerous chemo treatments, a stem cell transplant, and two T Cell transplants, some of which were clinical trials that he did not just for himself but for the benefit of those after him.
John lived a life marked by kindness, integrity, honesty, strength, and strong morals. He was a man of few words – but when he spoke, people listened. He told his children, “You can learn more from listening than talking.” He was the calm presence who listened, a desirable quality in his extended family of talkers. Everyone recognized his peaceful warmth. One of the foreign exchange students he and Kathi hosted over the years said, “He welcomed me to your home with open arms and made me feel not only part of your family but truly at home.”
He will be greatly missed. John was a devoted husband to Kathleen (Hartl) for 53 years; a loving father to Michael Johnson (Tara), Matthew Johnson (Shelly), and Crystal Brost (John); adoring grandfather to Nicole Johnson, Brook Dietrich (Zach), Rachael Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, Emily Buehler (Sam), Hayden Johnson (Benji), Wyatt Johnson, Zane Brost, and Helaina Brost; doting greatgrandfather to Holden Johnson, Athena Dietrich, Zivah and Maevis Buehler, Henry Johnson, and one more due in September. He was a beloved brother of Linda Mertens, William Johnson, Mary Ann Trabandt, Ron Johnson (Debbie), and Donald Johnson (Cathy); and brother-in-law of Jim Hartl (Jean), Ronald Hartl (Laurie), David Hartl (Michelle), Vern Hartl (Larry), Lyn Hartl (Wendy) and Sharon Scott (Pat); along with many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Helen and Ernest Johnson; mother-in-law, Marie Hartl; father-inlaw, Edward Hartl; sister, Rita Netzer; brothers-in-law, Larry Netzer, Lloyd Mertens, Hugh Trabandt; and sister-in-law, Helen Johnson. In lieu of flowers, memorials are appreciated and will be designated to several organizations John held close to his heart.
Hemer-Pickerign Funeral & Cremation Services of Medford is serving the family.
Please visit www.hemerfuneralservice.com to share condolences online.
Paid Obituary 171792
