Edwin "Ed" Lester Johnson, 95 of Spearfish passed away on May 13, 2016.

Edwin was born on May 20, 1920 in a sod house just south of Bowman, North Dakota to William M. and Hilda (McGuffin) Johnson. Edwin told the story of the time when they moved out of the sod house and into their new house and the older brothers carried him to the new place in a wash tub, he was one year old. Ed was a born businessman; he started buying and selling cars when he was a student at Plainview Academy in Redfield, South Dakota. In the summer during his high school years he and his father would take farm produce from the valley and sell it in North Dakota. In was in North Dakota where he met his future wife, Jean Breakenridge and the couple married in December of 1944. Following the birth of their first son, Mac, they made their home in Spearfish, buying a small house on Lower Valley Road. While living there, Ed started a small potato chip factory; he delivered his potato chips all over the Black Hills. One day, Ed left two college students in charge of the factory and they burned all the chips and it put Ed out of the chip business. His next adventure was a service station on the corner of Lower Valley Road and Hwy 14, and later built a motel east of the service station. It was the first of three motels Ed would build. He built all of the homes they lived in over the years and even some for the other ranchers in the area.

Ed's "real job" was farming and ranching, up until a year ago he was still cutting hay and doing some combining for neighbors. He loved his cattle and we always teased him that he had them trained to come, when they heard his truck or when he called them.

Ed enjoyed restoring old cars and tractors, as his children we remember many family summer vacations making side trips (sometimes long journeys) out of the way looking for an old car that he had heard about or parts he needed to complete a job. Ed and Jean belonged to" Veteran Motor Car Club"and they went to many antique car tours throughout the years.

Ed's love of fixing things began at an early age. When he was six years old, he was given a Teddy Bear by his mom, the bear had a squeaker inside of it and because Ed carried it everywhere and slept with it every night, the squeaker gave out, so Ed operated on the bear and removed it, he loved that bear so much that the paws wore out and he repaired it with underwear.

Ed loved to work, he was the happiest when he was working, it did not matter how hard the work was. He always said "Work is Work". He loved visiting and staying connected with his neighbors and friends, and in his later years his daily routine consisted of making the rounds to check on everyone.

Most importantly, Ed loved Jesus. He was a founder and life time member of the Spearfish Seventh Day Adventist Church. He was active in all the church programs, especially "Ingathering". He was an Elder in the church for many years and loved being a song leader for "Sabbath School". Ed's daughter Sherri's childhood dream was to be able to play the piano well enough to be able to play for her dad to lead Song Service or for her mother when she sang for special music.

Ed is survived by his daughters, Sherri (Dean) Fandrich and Debra (Tim) Herber, son, Randy Johnson, daughter-in-law, Susan Johnson, nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

Ed was preceded in death by his wife, Jean and his son, Mac.

Visitation will be from 4pm-7pm, Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapel in Spearfish.
Funeral services will be at 11am, Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Spearfish, burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish. A memorial has been established to benefit Maranatha Volunteers International.

Arrangements are under the care of Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapel & Crematory Service of Spearfish.
Online condolences may be written at www.fidler-isburgfuneralchapels.com