Elina Katie Johnson

Elina Katie Johnson, 95 of Cedar Valley passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 8, 2017 in Hillcrest Assisted Living in Nashwauk. She was born March 9, 1921 in Fine Lakes Township to John and Ida Mattila. Elina's father died when she was seven so her mother moved frequently to support her young family. She spent her high school years in Cedar Valley and attended Floodwood High School. She married Leo Johnson on February 11, 1939 in Hibbing. They farmed together and Elina helped Leo in his logging business. Raising twelve children forced Elina to be creative and resourceful. She always had large gardens, dairy cows, and chickens. She was often found in the kitchen baking for her family. While her children were growing up she was a 4 - H Leader. For more than 70 years she wrote for the Floodwood Forum. During this time, she took a correspondence course for Journalism. Her articles caught the eyes of the staff at the Duluth News Tribune and they just had to meet this lady. They wrote an article about Elina, it made the front page of the Duluth News Tribune and in the article, they dubbed her "Mrs. Cedar Valley". The name of the article was "She reads like a letter from home". Elina also wrote articles for "The Farmer", farm magazine. She gardened through 2015 and was the recipient of many awards over the years at the county fair for bread and vegetables. She canned vegetables and meats to get the family through the winter. Elina was also quite political. It was important to support the local businesses in town. She was strong in her convictions. Elina was a member of the Cedar Valley National Evangelical Lutheran Church. Her family fondly remembers the twelve loaves of bread she made twice a week and the homemade root beer that they all so enjoyed. She sent many cards to people and all of her cards were homemade. She also made homemade candles. Elina was preceded in death by her husband, Leo; three children, Shelley, Patricia and Jack Johnson; two grandchildren, Heather and Jon Johnson; and four siblings, Wilfred and Evert Mattila, Julia Vacarro and Lillian Koskela. She is survived by her children, Ralph (Jeanette) of Floodwood, Warren (Bernice) of Floodwood, Leona (James) Emanuelson of Old Towne, FL, Daniel (Bonnie) of Floodwood, Gloria Johnson of Appleton, WI, Mona (Richard) Koivisto of Pengilly, John (Shirley) of Floodwood, Roy (Sue) of Floodwood and Lisa (Larry) Anderson of Esko; 30 grandchildren; 57 great grandchildren; and 31 great great grandchildren. Visitation: 10 until the 11:00 a.m. funeral service Friday, January 13, 2017 in New Life Community Church in Floodwood. A time of lunch and fellowship will follow. Burial will be in Cedar Valley Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Atkins Northland Funeral Home, Cloquet. To sign the guest book and offer an online tribute, see www.atkinsnorthlandfuneralhome.com