Sally (Drusilla Marie) Johnson, 87, of Grinnell, died Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, at Grinnell Regional Medical Center.
A memorial service was held Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the Carman Center of the Mayflower Community with the Rev. Christine Tinker, chaplain of the Mayflower Community, officiating. Burial will be at the West Liberty Cemetery near Searsboro at a later date. Memorials may be directed to either the Mayflower Human Needs Fund or to Grinnell Regional Hospice and sent in care of Smith Funeral Home, P.O. Box 368, Grinnell, IA 5011.
Sally was born Nov. 19, 1927, on a farm near Titonka, the only child of Gordon and Mabel McElroy Hansen. She was raised in Titonka and graduated from Titonka High School with the Class of 1945. Following high school, she entered the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp and graduated from St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN, in 1948. Following her education, she moved to Grinnell and began her career as a nurse at the former Community Hospital.
On Sept. 21, 1949, she was married to Jesse Lavern Johnson at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. The family lived in Grinnell and later moved to Lynnville. Sally worked as a registered nurse at the former Community Hospital in Grinnell and for 20 years at the office of Dr. John Parish. She was the first registered nurse at the Mayflower Infirmary in Grinnell.
Following the death of her husband, she moved back to Grinnell in 1976 and worked in the OB Department of Grinnell General Hospital. In 1986, she opened the Tender Love Baby Care Center in Grinnell and operated it until 2000. Sally had resided at the Mayflower Community since 2001.
Sally was honored in 2000 by the Ahrens Foundation and received a "Leave It Better Than You Found It" award. Besides enjoying her own children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren, Sally followed the lives of her "nursery babies." Her hobbies included family genealogy and collecting antiques. She was a member of a number of historical societies, and enjoyed her church work and volunteering at the Mayflower Community.
Survivors include her children, Marie (Dennis) Cope of Johnson City, TN, Gordon (Marcene) Johnson of Newton, and Larry Johnson of Fernandina Beach, FL; four grandchildren, Sandy (David) Dunn, Tim (Jen) Johnson, Lori (Sean) Nore, and Todd (Jennifer) Johnson; six great-grandchildren, Katie and Jaden Dunn, Sam Johnson, Natalie and Logan Nore, and Hattie Johnson.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.
