Della Lucille Johnson

Della Lucille Johnson, age 86 of Nashua, Iowa died Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, at her home.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, Ionia, IA, with Rev. Brian Dellaert celebrating the Mass. Interment will be in the church cemetery.

Friends may greet the family an hour prior to the Mass at the church on Friday.

Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home – Olson Chapel in Nashua is in charge of arrangements; (641) 435-4134.

Della Lucille Johnson was born Dec. 29, 1932, in Ionia, IA. She was the youngest of eight children born to James and Agnes (Bolton) Finnegan. Della received her education at St. Boniface Catholic School and graduated from the school in 1951. After graduation, she went to work in the payroll department for White Tractor in Charles City, and she never left, writing thousands of checks over the years to the employees, who in the 1970s numbered more than 3,000.

She met the love of her life, Victor Johnson, and the two were married on June 26, 1951, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, and they welcomed their first child, Victoria, the following year. The family grew to include six more children — Gary, Dan, Kim, Julie, Tom and Jamie — and they called Nashua home.

While Vic ran the barbershop in Nashua, Della continued to work at White Farm; in fact, she stayed at the sprawling Charles City facility until it closed in 1993 and Della retired after working for the company for more than 40 years.

Her children, though, remember their parents always made time for them, and it was a Sunday tradition to have homemade beef and noodles, and it was rare for Della to miss one of her kids trying to “taste test” a noodle before the family sat down for the meal.

Della and Vic had a trailer in Black Hawk Park, and the family would spend many a weekend at the park, making memories that her children carry to this day.

When her best friend and husband of almost 55 years passed away, Della had to adjust to living alone, but she had plenty of support from her family and friends. Della joined her friends Fred and Myla Timmer on trips to the casino, and while she never hit it big, she always joked it gave her a “little more spending money.”

Della was a kind soul who will be missed by her family and friends, but she is reunited with Vic. Right up to a couple of weeks ago, Della would tell her children, “Boy, I miss your dad.”

Survivors include three sons; Gary (Joan) Johnson of Cedar Rapids, Daniel Johnson of Davenport, IA (Sheryl Johnson of Marion, IA) and Thomas (Shelly) Johnson of Nashua; four daughters, Victoria (Tim) Anderson of Urbandale, IA, Jamie (Todd) Wind of Minneapolis, Kim Johnson of Nashua and Julie (Shawn) Tibbitts of Charles City; thirteen grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Patsy Finnegan of Ionia.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband on Jan. 19, 2006; seven siblings, Madonna Bynon, Rita Smith, Patrick Finnegan, Jerry Finnegan, James “Mose” Finnegan, Theresa Linkenmeyer, Annette Schmitz.