Peggy Johnson

Peggy Gaalaas Johnson, a longtime Manchester resident, passed away at home on November 15 with her family at her side, following a brief illness. She was 88 years old. Peggy Karen Estelle Gaalaas was born October 14, 1935 in Grand Rapids MN, to Percival Adlai Gaalaas and Grace Lee Gaalaas and was the youngest of eight children. She graduated from Grand Rapids High School in 1953, then attended Itasca Community College and the University of Colorado, completing her degree in Medical Recordkeeping in 1957. She was working at the University of Minnesota Hospital when she met her future husband, Bruce Johnson, on a blind date. They married in November, 1959, and moved east to Manchester, to plant new family roots in New England. Peggy and Bruce raised three children, with Peggy as the homemaker devoted to taking care of the familys needs with the stamina required of one whose spouse was in graduate school for 12 years. Later, she returned to the workforce as a medical records transcriptionist. In 1994, they moved to Baden, Switzerland for 4 years for Bruces work, where Peggy embraced living abroad and enjoyed traveling extensively. Peggy was a long-time member of Emanuel Lutheran Church and their Ruth Circle womens group, serving on the Altar Guild, and volunteered at the local school library and for the Meals-on-Wheels program in Manchester. She was also a long-time member of the womens philanthropic organization P.E.O. Peggy loved to knit, and took on ambitious projects. She enjoyed playing the piano, especially Broadway tunes. She loved to play cards and solve word puzzles, and became a committed Red Sox fan late in life. She is remembered for her easy laugh and her devotion to her family. She is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Bruce V Johnson, her parents, her brothers Lee and Perry, and sisters Betty (Kay), June (Clark), Grace (Carson), Barbara (Doyle), and Carol (Moston). She is survived by her children and their spouses Karen Johnson Ruth and David Ruth (Glenside PA), Paul Johnson and Jeanne Yu (Kirkland, WA), and Eric Johnson and Wendy Burgess Johnson (Glastonbury, CT), and grandchildren Daniel and JJ Ruth, Sonja Johnson-Yu, and Colby and Nicholas Johnson. A memorial will be held at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Manchester on Friday November 24, 2023 with calling hours at 1:30pm, followed by the service at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to heifer.org or a charity of choice.







Services

Visitation
Friday
November 24, 2023
1:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Emanuel Lutheran Church (Manchester)



Funeral Mass
Friday
November 24, 2023
2:00 PM
Emanuel Lutheran Church (Manchester)