Funeral services for Sharon K. Johnson, age 64, of Albert Lea, will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, April 4, at Central Freeborn Lutheran Church. The Rev. Linda Gunderson will officiate. Interment will be in the Central Freeborn Cemetery. Visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home, and one hour prior to the services at the church.

After 48 years of struggling with diabetes and major heart problems, Sharon died peacefully in her sleep at her home Wednesday, March 31, 2004.

Sharon Kay Johnson was born March 19, 1940, to Norman and Luella (Hanson) Vermedal in Winnebago County, Iowa. She attended school in Lake Mills, Iowa, and Albert Lea, and graduated from Albert Lea High School. Sharon was then employed by Northwest Airlines. On June 25, 1960, she was united in marriage to Orville Johnson at Central Freeborn Lutheran Church. The couple lived and farmed their entire married life in the Manchester area. Sharon was a travel hostess for Sunshine Traveler’s Club. She previously was employed at the Sears Catalog Department and at Trumble’s. She was a very active member of Central Freeborn Lutheran Church serving as Sunday School Superintendent and teacher, singing in the Senior and Family Choirs, being a member of Women of the ELCA, Circle, Altar Guild, and Church Council, and serving in several other leadership positions in the church. Sharon enjoyed traveling, visiting, and being with people. She was a special grandma, always carrying a surprise toy in her purse for Jace.

Survivors include her husband, Orville of Albert Lea; son, Alan and his wife Linda Johnson and grandson, Jace, of Lake Mills, Iowa; brother, Searle and his wife Angela Vermedal of Seattle, Wash.; sister, Donna Puyear of Albert Lea; aunts: Delores Andersen of Ames, Iowa, and Florence Johnston of Forest City, Iowa; uncle, Roger and his wife Joyclyn Hanson of Kiester; nieces: Cindy and her husband Craig Haugsdal of Emmons, Tricia and her husband Jerry Dahl of Albert Lea, and Meloney and her husband Ray Nunez of Wadell, Ariz.; and nephews: Tony and his wife Leontine Durby of St. Eustatious Islands, Aaron Haan of Albert Lea, and Dan and his wife Kim Vermedal of Chandler, Ariz.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents.