Pauline Eleanor (Hanson) Johnson

LaVern and Pauline were married on September 4, 1938, and lived their 54 years of marriage in or 10 miles north and east of Holdrege. They both worked to raise crops on the farm which had been C.A. Leslie Johnson's farm. Leslie was LaVern's stepdad. LaVern was the oldest of five children born to Bessie Johnson. His father was Sam Miller but since Bessie raised him along with her mother, Ida, he kept the Johnson name. Ida had come from Sweden to join her brothers and spoke only Swedish. Consequently, LaVern spoke Swedish only too until he went to school at age 5. At the age of 85, LaVern went with his daughter Sandra and her friend to Sweden to see his grandmother's beloved Smoland. On that trip he discovered the descendants of a great aunt and uncle who stayed behind in Sweden on the home place near Ruda. Bessie married Leslie and had four more children, Zola, Quenton, Vearl and Carol. Pauline was the daughter of Oscar and Belle (Brittain) Hanson of Elsie, Nebraska. She was raised on the farm and attended school at Elsie. She was valdectorian of her class and was accepted into a school of higher education. She met LaVern as he was doing work for her father and accepted his proposal of marriage and moved with him to Holdrege. LaVern and Pauline raised wheat, alfalfa, beans, sugar beets, and corn and milo on their land. They also tended cattle, horses, chickens, and hogs. They separated the milk from the cows and sold the cream along with the eggs from the hens. This meant there were chores to do everyday. Animals always needed to be fed and cleaned up after. Their days were busy. Yet they always found time to do a little traveling and headed into town (Holdrege) every Saturday night. They had many hard times when the farm never paid the bills and thoughts of losing it were always there. LaVern continued to pay on the land, however, and by the time of his death he had extended the farmland he worked to a full section. The land was not all together but 1/2 section was with the home place. He added the last 1/4 in the last 2 years of his life. He would have had it all paid for when he died had he not added the new quarter. That quarter meant a lot to him, as he had farmed it as a renter for over 50 years. They made many friends in their community. They had a square dance club which turned into a card club and eventually became called the skunk-hollow club. It was called that because they met in an old school house where skunks holed out underneath. These were long time friends as the club went on for over 60 years. The group continued to meet with them after they built a new home in Holdrege. Some of the members were still in the country, but many had moved to town and children were farming the land. LaVern rented the farm place for awhile and then was delighted when his grandson, Brad Johnson moved into the house. The house had been remodeled in the early 1950's to modernize it with an indoor toilet and gas furnace. When they raised their four children, the house was over one hundred years old, but was kept pretty much up to date by Pauline's hard work at wallpapering, painting and fixing. She kept the house spic and span. Pauline and LaVern were the parents of Ronald L. Johnson, Robert R. Johnson, Sandra L. Hilsabeck-Hastings (Bryce) and Linoma Wingate. (Wayne).