LeRoy A. “Tony” Johnson, 84, of Hartley passed away on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at the Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley. . Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 17 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hartley. Burial will follow at Pleasant View Cemetery, Hartley. Visitation will begin at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Hartley Funeral Home with the family present 5-7. There will also be one hour of visitation before the funeral on Thursday at the church.

LeRoy Almus Johnson was born on June 20, 1929 in Alta, Iowa, the son of Torval Almus and Helga (Vesgaard) Johnson. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith at the Danish Lutheran Church in Alta. Le Roy graduated from Fairview High School in Alta.

On October 13, 1951 LeRoy and Mavis Huck were united in marriage at the Melvin Lutheran Church. They made their home on the family farm south of Hartley. In his early years, he sold Forney Welders and spotted cattle for local cattle buyers. For many years, Tony was the Weigh Master at Spencer Foods and later a rural mail carrier. However, his main passion in life was farming and raising cattle.

He was a longtime member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hartley. He and Mavis enjoyed playing cards and traveling with their family. The last few winters were spent in Panama City, Florida. Tony was a charter member of the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Hartley. He enjoyed his tractors and had his father’s first tractor and his own first tractor restored. He was also very proud of his Danish heritage and traveled to Denmark with Mavis and his father and mother, Torval and Helga. One of Tony’s favorite pastimes was watching the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago White Sox, and all Iowa collegiate sports. He thoroughly enjoyed his fishing trips to Canada with family and friends.

He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 62 years, Mavis of Hartley; children and their spouses, Vicky and James Kilian of Sioux Falls, SD; Connie and Kent Thompson of Forest City, IA; Jerry and Dawn Johnson of Owatonna, MN; Jay and Lisa Johnson of Hartley, IA and Amy and Brian Baier of Brandon, SD; 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, Katherine Kilian, Allison (Brian) Strommen and children, Kyra, Sophia and Dillon; Brooke (Kyle) Dennis; Kelli Thompson; Jill and Mickey Johnson and daughter, Lucy; Jenni and Eric Hosler and children, Vivian and Charlie; Jessi and Troy Vankempen; Jason Johnson and children, Dakota and Damon; Travis and Jenna Johnson and children Kadin and Nora; Tim Johnson; Keith Johnson; Emma Baier and Brandon Baier; a brother and his wife, Duane and Doris Johnson of Okoboji, Iowa; sisters-in-law and brother-in-law, Barbara Ostby of Albuquerque, NM, Peggy Pyle of Yucaipa, CA, Betty and Lloyd Raveling of Melvin, IA, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Gary; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Robert Ostby, Howard Pyle, Mary Ann and Rex Petersen and Elaine Huck.