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Celebration of Life for John B. Johnson age 94 of Trail City, SD will be 10:30 AM MDT, Saturday, June 29, 2019 at the Trail City Community Center. Inurnment will be in the Timber Lake Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Military honors will be provided by Timber Lake American Legion Post #83. John passed away, May 29, 2019 at Avera Flandreau Hospital in Flandreau, SD.

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Family and ranching were the world to John B. Johnson, 94. He died May 29 at Avera Flandreau Hospital in Flandreau. John loved his family to the nth degree and never gave up on them. "If someone let him down, he would cut them a break and give them more chances," said John's daughter Kathy. "He might have been seen as a pushover by some people but that is because he wanted to believe in the best of people. That did not make him blind to their failings." John spent most of his life ranching north of Trail City. His son Alan worked at his side.

Alan said John was very easy to get along with. "One saying I heard him use frequently was 'There is more than one way to skin a cat,'" Alan said. "If somebody used a different route to achieve a goal he was not going to get into a battle with that person." John was born Sept. 1, 1924 at his parents' homestead north of Trail City near the Grand River. He attended elementary school at the Johnson School where he was taught by his oldest sister Alice; the Landeau School; and eighth grade at the McLaughlin school which was a boarding school at that time. Not finding school to be the right fit for him, John returned to ranching. He, his father Axel "Buffalo," and brothers Kenneth, Ray and Robert operated Johnson and Sons, raising rodeo stock and Angus cattle until Axel's death in 1950.

At that time, John and his brothers formed the Johnson Brothers partnership. John took a lot of pride in the accomplishments of Johnson Brothers. In the 1950s, the operation worked in conjunction with the South Dakota Extension Service and Johnson Brothers became pioneers in the implementation of production testing cow herds. In 1960, Johnson Brothers added the utilization of artificial insemination. The efforts put forth by the brothers to create superior livestock led to the South Dakota Beef Improvement Federation naming them the 1973 South Dakota Commercial Beef Producers of the Year. Johnson Brothers remained in operation until 1984 when it split and John, along with Alan, began Johnson J Ranch. Many years throughout his ranching career John served on the South Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association board of directors.

The only time John did not have a career in ranching was in 1944 when he joined the United States Army First Cavalry Division. The division was preparing to invade Japan in World War II before the atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan surrendered. John spent the remainder of his military service in the occupation forces in the Philippines and Japan prior to being honorably discharged in 1946.

After returning to his family's home and picking up his ranching career, he married Bernadean Gellner of Timber Lake on July 6, 1952. John and Bernadean lived on the ranch north of Trail City, raised two children and welcomed grandchildren to carry on the business. John joined his wife Bernadean at Riverview Manor in Flandreau in 2015 and shared a room. They were married for 67 years.

John enjoyed watching rodeos and Vikings and Twins games on the television, playing golf and a variety of card games and going hunting and fishing.

John is survived by his wife, Bernadean (Gellner) of Flandreau, son, Alan of Trail City, daughter, Kathy (Gary) Eikmeier of Flandreau, sister, Ramona Rose of Texas, four grandchildren, Jeremy (Lauren) Johnson, Lana (Anthony) Bradstream, Jessica (Kipp) Magelky and Grady (Monica) Eikmeier; nine great-grandchildren, Alex, Hannah, Kiera, Kaleb, Kaidean, Kallen, Lillianna, Jared and Cooper; and a host of nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl (Stewart); father, Axel; brothers, Kenneth, Robert, A.L., Gordon, Delbert and Raymond; and sisters, Alice and Ione.