Tragedy strikes Minnesota family days before 100th year in farming

Retired farmer and his sister-in-law are dead following a car crash in South Dakota.

By Paul Walsh, Star Tribune

Last update: August 28, 2008 - 2:56 PM

A retired farmer, whose east-central Minnesota family is about to mark the 100th anniversary of its dairy farm, and his sister-in-law are dead following a traffic collision in eastern South Dakota.

Killed Wednesday afternoon east of Watertown were Pine City residents Lonnie G. Johnson, 86, and Marilyn J. Broz, 80, the South Dakota Highway Patrol said. The Johnson's church said in an online notice to members that Broz was Johnson's sister-in-law and that his wife, Shirley, 84, had several broken bones and other injuries from the wreck.

The Johnson farm in Pine County has been in the family since 1908 and received a "Century Farm" designation this year from the Minnesota State Fair, according to fair officials. Lonnie Johnson ran the farm from 1952-1987 and passed it on to his son, Jeff, said fair spokeswoman Brienna Schuette.

"I know that many of you know the Johnson family," a notice from the Rev. Darren Carlson on the Pine City Evangelical Free Church blog. "Keep them in your prayers. They are a big part of our community and church. This Sunday marks the 100-year anniversary of the family farm."

Carlson said this afternoon that the Johnsons had planned to set off fireworks Sunday at the farm in celebration of the occasion. He described the property, with its bright red farmhouse, as "beautiful, right out of a picture."

He added that the news from South Dakota has shaken the town of 3,300, given the Johnson family's long history in the area and the fact that four of the Johnsons' eight children who grew up on the farm have remained in the area.

According to the patrol in South Dakota:

Johnson was driving his car west on Hwy. 212, drifted into oncoming traffic and struck a trailer being pulled by an eastbound car, which swerved into a ditch trying to avoid Johnson's car.

Broz was dead at the scene. Johnson died after being taken to a Watertown hospital. Shirley Johnson was hospitalized and expected to survive. The driver of the other car had non-life threatening injuries.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482