Ila Johnson

Ila “Gus” Johnson loving sister, mother, grandmother and friend passed away at her home on December 19th. She was 81 years old. Ila was born in Truimph, Minnesota to Elvin “Pete” and Elsie (Salzman) Peterson on April 26th, 1938 joining sisters Patricia and Nelda. They lived on the farm for 5 years before moving into town. Ila attended Trimont High School involved with band, cheerleading and twirling among her main interests. One of her favorite past times was roller-skating. Ila loved growing up in Trimont and she was incredibly proud of her heritage. She worked as a ticket agent for both Frontier Airlines in Denver, CO and North Central Airlines in the Twin Cities. While in Denver, she acquired the nickname “Gus”, which stuck with her for the rest of her life. When she returned to Trimont, she met Alvin Ebeling. They married on June 25,1960 in Trimont, MN; moving to Boston, MA due to Al’s service in the U.S. Army. Moving back to MN in 1961, the family welcomed their first-born, Julie, in 1962. Jenny was born nine years later, when they lived in Hugo, MN. Gus was very involved in community service with senior citizens, school board, church activities and becoming a major business entrepreneur thru Shaklee Corp. She was a key founding member of the Shepard of the Fields Lutheran Church in Hugo, MN. In 1981 the family moved to Scottsdale, AZ. Gus worked for the Scottsdale Police Department on assignment to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office before moving to the Police Records Department. In addition, she was very involved with school and church activities. After 25 years of marriage, Gus and Al separated, but remained very good friends until his death in 2013. Leaving the police department in 1995, Ila and Nelda began to take care of their mother until her passing in 1996. The following year the two went to Russia with Josh McDowell Ministries. Then, in 1998, she reunited with a friend from her airline years, Roger Johnson with whom she married many months later. The two enjoyed travelling between Minnesota and Arizona spending time with family and friends. In 2002, Gus moved to Sun City, AZ. She joined the Sun City Sheriff’s Posse shortly after. In 2007, Gus was elected Commander of the Posse. She was very proud of the work that the Posse contributed to the Sun City community. Gus and Roger enjoyed their time together until his death in 2013. Her granddaughter, Cydney, the light of her life, was born in 2003 giving her many more blessings. They enjoyed baking Christmas cookies and playing in the sand, but most of all she loved to snuggle with her granddaughter. She was involved in her church, Fountain of Life, where she also served on the Fellowship Committee. Ila loved visiting her sister Nelda, where she spent hours sitting on her “perch” enjoying Hawaii. Ila had so many interests it’s difficult to include them all. She wrote many cookbooks for church, school and family. She also wrote family genealogy books and planned several family reunions. She compiled the Trimont Centennial Book as well. Ila designed many homes, as well as redesigned and redecorated her homes countless times. Ila was baptized as an infant and remained a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Services will be held at Fountain of Life Lutheran Church (15630 N Del Webb Blvd, Sun City, AZ. 85351) on Friday, December 27th at 11am. She will be laid to rest at Sunland Cemetery in Sun City. Ila is survived by her sister Nelda Peterson; daughters, Julie Amaro (Fred) and Jenny Lowrie (Calvin) and granddaughter Cydney Lowrie, and mother-in-law Eleanore Ebeling. She is also survived by numerous family, friends and grand dogs. Ila was preceded in death by her parents and her two husbands, sister Patricia VanderWert and brother-in-law Doyle VanderWert and other family members.