Elva June (Miller) Johnson

Elva June Johnson (Miller), 91, passed on to the Lord June 30, 2024 in Bend, Oregon.

Elva was born February 20, 1933 in Sargent, Nebraska to Vera and Andrew Miller. She graduated from Broken Bow High School in 1949. She was active in 4-H and loved riding horses throughout her life. She was thrilled to be able to attend the University of Nebraska for a year where she proudly participated in the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band. She went on to graduate from secretarial school in Denver two years later.

On September 19, 1953, Elva married Vernon Johnson Jr. of Dunning, Nebraska. Vern and Elva raised three daughters Valerie, Vickie and Vanessa, moving from Chadron to Gering as part of her husband’s assignments in the Nebraska State Patrol. Elva worked as a bank teller and receptionist for Nebraska Public Power District on Chadron. In Gering, she was an executive secretary for Lockwood Irrigation Corporation.

In retirement, Elva was a talented golfer and an officer of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was very active in the Eastern Star and Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school classes and participated in Bible study classes for many years, nurturing a close relationship with God. She was an avid reader, loved Volkswagen cars, horses, gardening, camping and traveling to new places, and seeing her children and grandchildren. Elva had a thirst for knowledge, and enjoyed taking classes in computers, Spanish, and family ancestry in her later years.

Elva is survived by her children and grandchildren; daughter Valerie (Joel) Bailie of Bend, Oregon; daughter Vickie Meier of Ogallala; daughter Vanessa (Jeff) Wagner of Omaha; grandchildren Zach (Jill) Bailie, Lindsey (Dan) Schreiber, Jordan Meininger, Brandon Bailie, Jacob (Shelby) Wagner, Aubrey Wagner, Taylor Meier, and Christina Wagner; and great-children Parker Bailie, James and Elizabeth Schreiber, and Eleanor and August Wagner. She was preceded in death by her parents, Vera and Andrew Miller, and her husband, Vernon Johnson Jr.

There will never be anyone quite like Elva. We were blessed to have her as a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was so loved and will be terribly missed.

 A memorial to Partners in Care Hospice House of Bend, Oregon has been established in Elva’s memory.

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