A life of faith, family and service

Gary Johnson marks 90 years

Long-time Buffalo resident Gary Johnson will celebrate his 90th birthday on January 23. Born in 1936, Johnson was adopted by a young couple, Burt and Gladis, who lived on a farm in Northern Iowa. Gary was just three months old and never knew his biological parents. “The parents who adopted me were very good.”    

The Early Years

In 1942, when Gary was around the age of six, his father purchased a farm in Farwell, MN. By age seven, he was heavily involved in daily chores, as most farm boys were at that age. The family owned 16 cows, which Gary helped to milk by hand. The farm had no electricity when the family first moved in. Gary remembers the story quite keenly of how the family first received electrical service.  

“Dad went to Alexandria and looked up an electrician. He came out and measured everything, the barn, the granary, henhouse, and the house. About three days later, he called dad and said, ‘I can’t find wire anywhere.’ Materials were difficult to come by during WWII.” 

Almost a year later, the electrician called Gary’s father to see if he was still interested in electrical service. “Dad had a bit of a sense of humor and said, ‘well, you got it done yet?’” The electrician stayed with Gary’s family for three days while he worked to wire the farm.

“The day came, and the power company put up a light pole with a transformer. We always ate supper before we milked. We were sitting there, and all of the sudden you couldn’t see because the lights came on, and it was so bright.”  

High School Years

The family continued operations on the Farwell farm until 1948. That fall, his father purchased a farm near Osakis where Gary attended high school through his junior year. He recalled a time when he injured his leg playing football for Osakis High School. 

“I injured my left leg. Back then, they didn’t do surgery. I ended up spending a week in the Alexandria hospital on complete bed rest. The morning I was supposed to come home the doctor came in and put on a thick cast. The high school was two levels with stairs. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.” When the cast was removed, Gary noticed his leg was shorter due to lack of muscle use while in the cast.

In the spring of 1953, Gary’s family moved to Buffalo, where he completed his senior year of education, graduating with the Class of 1954. 

Military Service

Johnson worked as a heavy-equipment operator for much of his life. After graduation, he worked in the construction field before volunteering for military service.

“Late summer, I got a call and went down to Minneapolis for a physical. I was born with only one eye and never had vision out of my left eye. They have you take an eye test, especially your peripheral vision, so I figured that was it for me because I couldn’t really see anything. The recruiter said, ‘Don’t worry, the army takes one-legged and one-eyed guys, we’ll find a job for you.’” 

Johnson served in the United States Army from March 5, 1955, to March 5, 1957. He received basic training at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas along with additional training in advanced combat engineering due to his background as a heavy-equipment operator. 

After training, Johnson traveled to Fort Dix in New Jersey, to await assignment orders, ultimately spending 18 months overseas stationed in France. 

“I was first sent to Soulac, a little town right on the ocean coast. It was a small company, and we lived in tar-paper shacks. They decided they were going to build a small landing strip at the base for small planes. Because I was a heavy-equipment operator, I had to clear out a bunch of pine trees. We then laid pierced steel planking for the runway. It was all beach sand underneath.  I mentioned to the sergeant about the need for heavier soil over the sand but was told that there was no plan to put down heavier soil. 

“A general was scheduled to land in three days. We worked well into the night to complete the runway, slept for a couple hours, and then were back at it. I went to breakfast one morning; the wind had been blowing like crazy. The sergeant came in, and I asked him to come take a look at the runway. As soon as he saw it, he covered his eyes. It was just like little snow drifts all over the runway. The wind would blow sand into the planking holes and push it all over. There wasn’t enough time to remove all the planking and lay heavier dirt on top of the sand. Fortunately, the general who was supposed to fly in had canceled his trip.”

Three months later, Johnson was transferred from Soulac to La Rochelle, France, about 80 miles north. “I don’t know whatever happened to that landing strip.”

While stationed in La Rochelle, Johnson learned of the need for a driver.

“I got a call from the lieutenant who said, ‘Gary, we don’t have any heavy equipment here.’ He asked me what I would like to do. I said to him, well, I don’t want to wash dishes. The lieutenant laughed, then told me he was looking for a bus driver.”

Gary made trips twice per week from La Rochelle to Paris, hauling military personnel and sometimes their families into the city. “We’d leave in the morning, stay overnight in Paris, and come back the following day. From the hotel where they put me up, on a clear day, I could see the Eiffel Tower.”

Post Military

After Johnson completed his military service, he continued working as a heavy-equipment operator for many years, helping to build and maintain area roads and highways including I-94, I-494, I-694, I-90, and I-35. “I’ve moved a lot of dirt and ran just about every piece of equipment other than a crane.” 

Later in his career, Johnson was employed as a truck driver and equipment operator for Wright County. 

Johnson retired in 1992, where he enjoyed breakfasts with friends and playing golf in his early retirement years.

Lions Club

Throughout his life, Johnson has been heavily involved with the Lions Club, joining in 1979, and serving in various capacities for nearly 50 years. His first role was that of secretary, eventually serving as president, and later becoming involved at the district level where he served as zone chairperson. 

Johnson’s duties took him all over, traveling to various meetings, conventions, fundraisers, and events, including a trip across the world to Osaka, Japan. Locally, Johnson helped to organize many pork chop feed and pancake breakfast fundraisers. 

Faith and Family

Gary and his wife, Marlene, have three children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. This past October, the couple celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary. They were married at Zion Lutheran Church where they remain members today. “I was on the board for six years in the 60’s, our kids were all baptized and confirmed there.” 

With faith being a foundation in Gary’s life, he was asked to serve as Chaplin for Buffalo American Legion Post 270, a role he has honored for the past eight years, offering prayers at meetings and various Legion services.  

Johnson was active in youth sports throughout his life and enjoyed bowling and hunting with friends.

Gary Johnson is a man with many lived experiences and memories to share. When he officially begins his 90th year next week, rest assured, Gary will continue creating new life experiences and sharing them with his many friends and family.