Linda L. Johnson

Linda L. Johnson, 74 years of age, passed away on September 13, 2023, at the Polson Health and Rehabilitation Center. She was born March 28, 1949, in Anaconda, MT to Margaret Browning (d.1987) and Hiram T. Harrison (d.1953). Linda was the youngest of 10 children.

Linda graduated from Anaconda High School in 1967 and went on to the Butte School of Business. She then got a job as a secretary at Cleves Volkswagen Car Dealership in Butte. Linda would tell a story of how she got to meet Mr. Evel Knievel. She worked there for a few years until she met her future husband, Jaye Johnson of Charlo, MT.

Linda and Jaye met at their friends’ wedding, Don and Lori Becker, at Georgetown Lake. They quickly knew they would be together forever and married April 18, 1970. Linda moved to the Charlo area with Jaye as they worked together to raise their family and build their family cattle ranch.

They had 3 children, Jamie Scott (b.1970 -d.1988), Jerome Paul (b.1976-d.1976), and Jodie Lynn (b.1976).  Linda’s children kept her busy with driving them to all of their activities including guitar and piano lessons, boy and girl scouts, 4-H, horse riding lessons, and school sports and activities. Jaye and Linda accepted a German foreign exchange student into their lives for the 1992-93 school year. Stefanie Scherer Streit (b.1974) instantly became their daughter and to this day is still very close to Linda, Jaye, Jodie, her husband Scott and their two girls, Jaylynn and Laura.

When Linda was not driving her kids around to various events, she was a 4-H Leader for the Ninepipe Hustlers, a produce manager at Mission Mart, an assistant in the Charlo Schools lunchroom, and an employee at Jore, Incorporated. Linda’s hobbies included bowling in her younger years. Later she enjoyed playing cards with her friends when her Raynaud syndrome made her hands to sore to bowl. Linda also loved to cook. She said it was just in her blood as her mother and 3 of her siblings had professional cooking jobs. Jodie and Linda shared this passion together. Every day, they would exchange ideas for dinner. Linda was always on the hunt for a new recipe or a new fantastic cooking appliance or utensil.

Linda loved her two granddaughters, Jaylynn Marie (b.2009) and Laura Allison (b.2016). She was an avid supporter of them in any and every activity they were in. Come blizzard, rain or shine, Linda could be seen front and center at every activity. On her daily phone call with Jodie, she would always ask “What are the girls plans for tonight?” and “What is next on the agenda?”

Jaye and Linda had 53 years together in which they shared a “100,000-mile journey” around the United States and the World. They were snowbirds for 22 years and met many people they now call good friends. All of their trips included visiting family and/or new and old friends.