Nereece Whipple Johnson

October 23, 1924 ~ August 20, 2008

*Nereece Whipple Johnson died in a tragic traffic accident at the main intersection in Monticello on August 20, 2008. She was born October 23, 1924 in Snowflake, AZ to John Jacob Whipple and Emma Ramsay.*

Their first child, a son, died shortly after birth. Nereece was the second child, followed by Elaine (Don) Robbins, Grace (Byron) Eastin, Loren (Joanne), Charles (Gloria), Carol (Kennedy) Waite, and Anneva (Ray) Mc Cain. Elaine and Carol are deceased.

The family lived on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, where her father worked for the Indian Agency. After completion of the eigthth grade, she moved to Snowflake, AZ to live with her maternal grandmother and go to school.

Later, when her father became ill, she moved to Monticello and lived with Lloyd and Willie Barton. They treated her like one of their own, and she stayed with them until her father regained his strength. He found a doctor in Moab that helped him. As soon as he was well, they moved to a ranch on Boulder (east of Monticello) and began farming in 1941.

Nereece graduated from Monticello High School and later went to Salt Lake City to work in a munitions plant during World War II.

She married Eldon Johnson after he returned from the battlefront. They moved to a ranch east of Monticello and began a life of farming.

They had three children: Linda (Ty) Lewis of Monticello, Clayton (Gayleen) of Cortez, CO, and Brent (Tauna) of Cedar City, UT. They have 13 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren. Eldon preceeded her in death.

Nereece was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At one time, she held five different callings at the same time in the Eastland Branch, .

She worked at First Security Bank for 28 years. She loved playing the piano and had a gift of being able to hear a song and sit down and play it.

After Eldon died, she moved to town and into a neighborhood that took good care of her. She had friends of all ages and from every walk of life who would drop by each day and visit with her. Alice Rogers was one of those friends, and they continued that friendship on the day they both died. We will always be grateful to Alice for the way she cared for Nereece.

She will be greatly missed, and her kindness and love to her family and everyone around her will be felt for years to come.

Card of thanks

The family of Nereece Johnson would like to offer their heartfelt thanks for all the many acts of kindness at the time of her death. The beautiful flowers, food, cards, phone calls and other acts of kindness were almost overwhelming, but so appreciated.

Thanks to Dr. Fisher and the nurses at San Juan Hospital for the professional and compassionate way they treated our mother.

Thanks to the dedicated EMT’s for their quick response and care and to Danny Palmer for the professional way he handled the situation.

We are so grateful to each of you for your love and kindness during this sad time of our lives.

Linda & Ty Lewis and family

Clayton & Gayleen Johnson and family

Brent & Tauna Johnson and family