Della Johnson

Della Fay Johnson, 95, of Bismarck, passed away on June 4, 2025 in a Bismarck Care Center. Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at 11 a.m. at the Bismarck Funeral Home with Rev. Merle Hoots officiating. Burial will be held at the Mirah cemetery, rural Kintyre, ND.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Della was born on Nov. 1, 1929 to Frederich and Magdalena (Schneider) Bollinger in rural Hague, ND. She was raised on the family farm and attended a rural one room schoolhouse and graduated from Herried High School in 1947. During high school she lived with her grandmother in order to be closer to school with the stipulation that she speak primarily German to her grandmother.

After graduation she worked for the Agricultural Stabilization Committee for 7 years in Linton where she met her future husband. Della wanted to be a nurse but didn’t have the finances, so she did the next best thing by working 25 years at the Nursing School at the Bismarck Hospital, helping other people become nurses. After her retirement, she held other sales positions, most notable, selling Avon products.

In 1964 she married her beloved husband, Ronald Johnson, in Bismarck at the Baptist Church and spent the next 45 years with him.

Della was a good friend and family member. She served as a bridesmaid seven times and had long-term friends who were important to her until the end. She was a people person through and through and loved to celebrate. Della loved to talk and took an interest in people and their lives. She was also a detailed letter writer and storyteller. Della loved beauty and surrounded herself with beautiful things. She created beauty in her space and shared it with others. She had a personal sense of style and added a glamorous dimension and personality to the places she went.

In her discretionary time, she volunteered at her church singing in the choir, helping with children’s Sunday School, serving on women’s committees, and attending Bible Studies. In her later years, when she no longer drove, she was so beloved by other women in a community Bible Study that they picked her up and took her home just to enjoy her as part of the group.

Della will be deeply missed by her sister, Gloria Martin; niece, Penny (Martin Bredemeier) Kirchner; nephew, Scott Martin; sister-in-law, Claudia Bollinger; and cousin, Margo (Chuck) Schwehr; along with many other nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald; her parents; and brother, Lyle.