Kermit Avert Johnson

Kermit Avert Johnson was born March 18, 1934 in Cass Township, Jones County, near Anamosa, Iowa, the youngest child of eight children of Henry John Johnson and Minnie May (Reed) Johnson. He was educated at Frog Hollow country school and was a 1952 graduate of Anamosa High School.  He was married to Barbara Jean Knight in 1954 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Anamosa. To this union, a son, Randy Michael was born in 1955.  An infant son, Gregory Joseph, was born in 1958 and did not survive.

Kermit worked for the Iowa DOT for 43 years.  He began his career running mowers and snow plows and became a talented mechanic known for his willingness to fix equipment on the road, no matter the conditions.

The couple purchased a run down acreage, outside Solon, Iowa, in 1975, with an abandoned rock quarry directly behind the home.  Kermit stayed up 3 days straight finishing rebuilding a pickup and then moved his family.  He stayed up many more nights and taught himself electrical and plumbing and remodeled a lump of coal into a nice home for his family.  Kermit rebuilt a backhoe, converted a pickup into a dump truck, filled in the quarry and restored the land.  He heated many years with wood and in later years gave wood away, even delivering it.

He started raising hogs and used profits from that to buy his beloved black angus cattle.  He was a good farmer and conservationist, restoring the creek banks and creating wildlife habitat.  He was always a good example to his son of hard work and honesty and maintained the acreage until his mid-eighties.

In 2021 the couple moved to North Carolina to be with their grateful son. 

He was preceded in death by his parents; six of his siblings, Kenneth, Leonard, Maxine Nordmann, Alvina Miner, Wilma Parson and Wilber Johnson, an infant son, Gregory Joseph Johnson and in-laws JoAn (Dale) Herren, Roseanne (Ivan) Operman, Keith (Delores) Knight and Garlene Knight.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, his son and son’s fiancée Kathy Spivey, his sister, Dorothy Wratten of Arlington Heights, Illinois, brother-in-law Keeran “Fuzz” Knight of Cedar Rapids, sister-in-law Phyllis (Patrick) Knight Carey of Newton, Wis., many beloved nieces and nephews scattered across the United States and his fur grandbaby Jaxson, the wonder Yorkie.

Kermit’s life of hard work resulted in later years of living with severe rheumatoid arthritis pain.  In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Rheumatology Research Foundation.

A funeral mass will be held Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 10:30 AM at Our Lady of the Highways Catholic Church in Thomasville with Reverend Gabriel Carvajal Salazar officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 10:00-10:30 AM at the church. Burial will follow at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Cemetery in Salisbury. Online condolences maybe sent to the family at www.jcgreenandsons.com.

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