Violet I. Johnston

Violet I.

Johnston

Violet I. Johnston from Kirkland WA died on September 13, 2014 due to complications after heart surgery. Violet grew up outside Malta Montana as the daughter of Jonas and Malmfrid Undheim who immigrated from Norway and homesteaded near Harb in 1914. She was the 6th in a family of 7 children and is survived by her younger sister Marilyn Christopherson. Violet is also survived, in her immediate family, by her two sons Chris and Ken Johnston.

Violet grew up in a two-room farmhouse with her parents, brothers and sisters out on the prairie near Malta, Montana. She enjoyed her chores that included taking care of cows, driving the tractor and helping with the vegetable garden. She was schooled by her older sister Gudrun who was the teacher in the schoolhouse out near Rimrock. Violet traveled by train to Seattle after graduating from Malta High School in 1943.

Violet rented an apartment with cousins and found work in Todd Shipyards Engineering Department as a secretary. She married Garrett S Johnston in 1948 and together rented a house in the Fremont district. In 1952 Violet and Gary bought a house on the Eastside of Lake Washington where they started a family of two boys. In 1958 she was a founding member of Inglewood Presbyterian Church and served there as a Deacon and later as the Church Secretary. She loved singing in the choir.

Violet took a job as a secretary in 1970 with the Lake Washington School District as the boys got older. She enjoyed a sixteen year career there. In 1978 she and Gary built along the shores of Lake Washington, replacing a cabin on the property they purchased from Gary’s parents. After retirement, they took a three month dream trip to New Zealand in 1988. Retirement was busy with travels to Canada and the West Coast, get-togethers, and enjoying free time to pursue hobbies. Gary passed in 1999 and Violet continued to live in the home that she and Gary built. She enjoyed shopping at Costco, meeting new friends and doctors, reading books from the Bookmobile, and going on family camping trips for another fifteen years. She loved to share meals and her home with family and friends. She was the oldest charter member at church, and the choir room is named in her honor.