Otto Johnson

Otto Allan Johnson, 86, of Prior Lake, died peacefully and surrounded by his family on September 7, 2024.

A Time of Gathering will be held in his honor on Friday, September 13 from 4-7pm at Ballard Sunder Funeral Home in Prior Lake (4565 Pleasant Ave). A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Otto on Saturday, September 14 at St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake (16400 Duluth Ave SE) beginning at 10am with an hour of visitation prior from 9-10am.Father Tom Walker will be presiding over services. 

Guests may join the Mass via live streaming at Stmichael-pl.org and clicking on the live stream tabs and then to Otto's mass icon. 

Otto will be laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery at a later date. 

Otto was born on December 23, 1937, to Otto and Edna (Opperud) Johnson in Abrose, North Dakota. He was the eighth of eleven children. He was a tiny baby, under 2 pounds, and so spent his first six weeks in a home-made incubator. He pulled through and went on to attend school in Crosby, North Dakota. He left school after 8th grade to work on neighboring farms to help the family. At seventeen he enlisted in the Navy and traveled the world. After an honorable discharge he moved to Minnesota to follow many of his siblings who had already made the move.

In 1966 Otto met Jan Smisek at the Scott County Fair. They had their first date at a Twins game and after a whirlwind three-month engagement were married on October 29, 1966, in Veseli, Minnesota. They settled in Prior Lake where they raised their daughters Dianne and Sandra. Otto held many jobs in construction, blacktopping, bartending, the postal service and factory work. Otto enjoyed family gatherings, playing cribbage and euchre, and cheering on the Twins and the Dodgers. In later years he became interested in horse racing, owning several horses and spending lots of time at Canterbury, both in the barns and in the stands. He also enjoyed the occasional trip to the casino where he rarely won but always had fun. He was a lifetime member of the VFW Post 6208 in Prior Lake. His greatest accomplishment was his 40+ years of sobriety during which he helped hundreds of others through his work and mentorship in the local AA community.

Otto is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jan; daughters, Dianne (Ron) Wortz and Sandra Johnson; granddaughters, Natalie and Alison Wortz, Samantha Harvey, and Isabel Lyman; brothers, Lloyd and Red Johnson; sisters-in-law, Virginia Johnson and Kerin Bymark; brother-in-law, Bill Bymark and many nieces and nephews.

Otto was preceded in death by his parents, Otto and Edna; siblings, Swede, Lavonne Carlson, LaVern, Smiley, Marlene Olson, Clayton, Donald, and Donna Larson; brothers-in-law, Bennie Carlson, Norman Olson and Curtis Larson; sisters-in-law, Ivy, Avis, Bonnie, Leila and Nancy Johnson.