Burton Johnson

PRINCETON — Burton Johnson, 91, of rural Princeton died at 12:20 p.m. Friday, March 12, 2010, at his home.

Born April 10, 1918, in Bureau Township to Fred and Ada (Jontz) Johnson, he married Ruth Andersen Aug. 9, 1941, at her home in rural Princeton. She preceded him in death.

He graduated from Bureau Township High School in 1936 and worked with his father on the family farm where he was born. He took over the family farm when his parents moved to Franklin Grove in 1948 and was a longtime grain, cattle and hog farmer in Bureau Township and a member of the Bureau County Farm Bureau.

He had been a member of the school board for Wyanet High School, and was a member of the Bureau County and Wyanet Mutual Insurance Company. He served as a trustee and supervisor for Bureau Township and was a Golden Harvest Seed Corn dealer and Bureau Township Republican precinct committeeman. He was also a member of the First Baptist Church of Manlius, where he served as a trustee, deacon, Sunday school teacher and clerk for more than 50 years. He also sang as part of a men’s quartet.

Surviving are one son, Gary (Charlotte) Johnson of Bull Valley, Ill.; one sister, Reva (William) Brierton of Franklin Grove; three grandchildren, Benjamin Johnson of North Adams, Mass., Stephanie (Jacob) Epstein of Monument, Colo., and Andrew (Sarah) Johnson of Old Town, Maine; one great-granddaughter, Alexandra Epstein of Monument, Colo.; one niece, Diana (Michael) Hartmann of Lakemoor; one nephew, Thomas (Cynthia) Brierton of Lovettsville, Va.; one great-nephew, Jett Hartmann; and two great-nieces, Paige and Julia Brierton.

He was also preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Charles R. Johnson.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church of Manlius with Pastor Don Winters officiating. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, Princeton.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Grant-Johnson Funeral Home, Princeton.

Memorials may be directed to the Wyanet Rescue Unit, First Baptist Church of Manlius, Hospice of the Rock River Valley in Dixon, Burton and Ruth Johnson Scholarship for Music at Judson University in Elgin or the Ruth and Burton Johnson Scholarship for Ministerial Education at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard.