Doris H. Johnson

September 9, 1932 - April 19, 2023
Doris H. Johnson, 90, of Rapid City, SD passed away at Good Samaritan-St. Martin’s Village, Wednesday, April 19, 2023.
A memorial service will be held at St. James Lutheran Church in Belle Fourche, SD, Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 11:00 am with Deacon Laura Campbell officiating. Inurnment will follow at the Pine Slope Cemetery. Memorials may be given to the Belle Fourche Senior Center.
Doris Helga Johnson was born September 9, 1932 to George J. and Mamie E. (Stolnack) Johnson at the Henry Anderson home (Mamie’s sister, Sophie) on Horse Creek near Newell, SD. She was the second of ten children.
Doris attended country schools in Butte and Harding Counties, South Dakota and Carter County, Montana. She attended the first nine-week session of her freshman year at Ekalaka (MT) High School and then transferred to Buffalo (SD) High School for the remainder of the year. Doris attended Newell High School during her sophomore and junior years. Along with her older sister, Betty, she graduated from Belle Fourche High School with the Class of 1950.
Doris began working after high school as the deputy Register of Deeds at the Butte County courthouse. From there, employment opportunities with the U.S. Government took her to places all over the world. Doris worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Yankton and Hot Springs, SD and Washington, DC. She then worked for the U.S. Civil Service under Army Auspices in Camp Casey, South Korea; Heidelberg, West Germany; Sierra Vista, AZ; Stuttgart, West Germany; Warren, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia before retiring in 1988.
Doris enrolled in evening courses through the University of Maryland while living in Heidelberg, West Germany in the late 1960’s. She earned an Associate degree from Cochise Junior College (Arizona) in May 1972. She continued to take evening classes from the University of Arizona while living in Sierra Vista. She earned a total of 136 semester hours of college courses.
Doris moved back to South Dakota in 1988 after retiring from the full-time work force. She lived and worked part-time in Rapid City before moving to Belle Fourche in 1994 to become her mother’s caregiver. Declining health forced Doris to move from Belle Fourche to the Good Samaritan campus in Rapid City in July 2018.
Doris was a voracious reader and enjoyed traveling. She visited five of the seven continents. And wherever Doris lived throughout her life, she joined a bowling league and participated for many years in the national bowling tournament with six of her sisters. She was a member of St. James Lutheran Church and a volunteer for the Meals on Wheels program in Belle Fourche.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents; three siblings and spouses, including Betty J. (John) Niemi, G. Douglas (Patricia) Johnson, and Marilyn M. (Arnold, Jr.) Schmidt; other brothers-in-law, including Douglas Miller, William Schafer, and Roger Reynolds; and a niece, Teryl Johnson McGriff.
Doris is survived by six siblings and spouses, including Andrew W. (Linda) Johnson of Sturgis, SD; Beverly J. Miller of Mission, TX; Darlene J. Schafer of Mission, TX; Arlene J. Reynolds of Rapid City, SD; Judith G. Johnson of Rapid City, SD; and Ida Lee (Melvin) Johnson of Apple Valley, MN. Other survivors include several nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and special cousins, Annitta Stolnack of Newell, SD and Janet Hardy of Largo, FL.
Arrangements are under the care of Kline Funeral Chapel of Belle Fourche. An online guest book is available at klinefuneralchapel.com