Roland W. Johnson

Roland Wayne Johnson, “Rollie,” 86 of Lakewood Township (Duluth), departed to be with his Lord on Monday, March 2nd, 2026, at Essentia Health in Duluth. He was born on September 2, 1939, to Swan and Geraldine (Moren) Johnson. In his youth, he attended Duluth schools and served in the US Army in Korea. He married Jean Alice Jensen in 1964, and they began a family. They were married for more than sixty years when she passed away in 2025. Rollie spent the bulk of his working career as a cement mason with JR Jensen and Sons of Superior and ended it with Northland Excavating (Constructors) of Duluth in 1983.

Rollie will be fondly remembered for his regular habit of wearing beat-up western cowboy hats, no matter the circumstances, his Copenhagen ringed blue jeans, and his loud “presence” when in the company of others. His persona of “kicking in the doors and waltzing in like you own the place” convincingly veiled the deep discomfort he experienced among large groups of people.

But ironically, to those who knew him well, this confident and boisterous man was secretly the “loudest shy guy in the room.”

Rollie was most at peace in quiet places. His awe-inspiring respect and appreciation for the Creator’s gift of the outdoors and the natural world is where he found his greatest solace and contentment. Not sharing this deep connection with those he loved was impossible. To be unnecessarily loud in the woods was viewed as nearly sacrilegious.

Whether deer hunting, ice fishing, grouse hunting, planting trees, sawing firewood, or simply quietly walking through the woods, he regularly found his peace away from the beaten path and the incessant din and demands of everyday modern life. When personally unsettled, he would announce that it was time for him to go to the woods to “get healed,” which he regularly did.

Even later in life, when his health and strength were waning, with much effort, cane in hand, he’d make his way through the woods behind his home to a stone bench placed on a ridge overlooking his favorite wildlife pond and simply sit there for hours in contemplative silence.

He warmly referred to that as his “prayer bench” where he “talked with God” surrounded by the whispering of a breeze through the leaves, the wild sounds of chorus frogs, crickets, and the gentle splash of mallards and wood ducks landing in those calming waters.

This was Rollie’s favorite worship service this side of Heaven.

Until we meet again.

Preceding him in death are Jean and Rollie’s first child, Richard Wayne Johnson; Rollie’s wife, Jean Johnson; his parents, Swan and Geraldine Johnson, and brother, Floyd Johnson; his wife, Darlene Johnson, brothers, Richard Johnson and David Johnson; and brother and sister-in-law, James Jensen and Corrine Jensen

Rollie is survived by his brother Fred Johnson and his children Shawn (Linda) Johnson, Kelly (Shamus) Higbee, and Jennifer (Leonard) Ronning; grandchildren- Jazmine (Sean) Hummel, McKala (Ty Rackliffe) Crotteau, Morgiana Bushway, Ian Johnson, Hunter Johnson, Jeremiah Johnson, great-grandchildren- Briggstin Johnson, Jemma Rackliffe, Thea Hummel

Funeral Services will be held at First Baptist Church, Two Harbors, MN, on Friday, April 10th. Visitation 3:30 pm Service 4:30.