This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/zk.2ADI/2214 Message Board Post: Services for 108-year-old Mattie C. Johnson of Exira will be held 10:30 am Wednesday, April 19th, at the Exira Lutheran Church. Burial will be at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Audubon. Mattie Johnson died Saturday, April 15th at the Exira Care Center. Survivors include 4 children, Irene Schmidt of Audubon, Ruby Welna of Omaha, Helen Smith (Thayer) of Belfair, WA and Franklin Johnson (Norma) of Omaha; 11 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandson; 1 sister-in-law, Ellen Rasmussen of Audubon. Visitation will be held at 7:00 pm Tuesday, April 18th, at the Kessler Funeral Home in Exira. = = = = = = = = = = Mattie C. Johnson Funeral services for Mattie C. Johnson, 108, of Exira, were conducted April 19, at the Exira Lutheran Church, with Pastor Bill Embree officiating. Interment was in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Audubon. Casket bearers were her grandchildren: Gary Welna, Steve Johnson, Greg Johnson, Wendell Schmidt, Jerry Schmidt, Lynnette Spetman, Terri Nofsinger, Vicki Halley, Debbie Thomas, Kandi Berg and Kim Smith. Mattie Christina Johnson, the daughter of Rasmus and Christina Peterson Rasmussen, was born Oct. 14, 1897, on her parents’ farm in Shelby County near Jacksonville and died April 15, 2006, at the Exira Care Center. Mattie was baptized in 1899 and confirmed in 1911 at Bethany Lutheran Church northeast of Kimballton. She attended rural Audubon County School near Kimballton, then took sewing classes. She then helped other families. On Aug. 30, 1920, she was united in marriage to Carl C. Johnson in Des Moines. They farmed in Shelby, Carroll and Audubon counties. In 1938, they purchased a farm south of Exira. They raised grain, hogs and cattle. They farmed until they retired in 1951. They vacationed in California, then spent the winters in Texas. They lived on an acreage north of Exira, moved back to the farm, then moved to Audubon in 1980. Carl died on Aug. 14, 1983. Mattie moved to Omaha, NE, where she lived in her own apartment for several years, then lived with her daughter, Ruby for several years. In February of 2003, she moved to the Exira Care Center in Exira. Mattie was a member of the Exira Lutheran Church. One of the highlights of her life was when she had a ride on a motorcycle with her grandson, Gary, when she was 106 years old. Preceding her in death in addition to her husband were her sons-in-law: Lester J. Welna and Victor Schmidt; her parents; her brothers and sisters: Chris Rasmussen, Elmer and Anna Rasmussen, Minnie and Chris Lund, George and Beulah Rasmussen, Esther and Pete Hjuler, Clara and George, Sr. Oakley, Arthur and Verlene Rasmussen, Raymond Rasmussen and Mabel Rasmussen. Mattie is survived by her children: Irene Schmidt and friend, Robert Boldt, both of Audubon; Ruby Welna of Omaha, NE; Helen Elaine and husband, Thayer Smith of Belfair, WA; Franklin and wife, Norma Johnson of Omaha; her grandchildren: Wendell and Pat Schmidt of Atlantic; Lynnette and Mike Spetman of Council Bluffs; Jerry and Ruth Schmidt of Blair, NE; Gary and Sharon Welna of Omaha; Vicki and Michael Halley of Galveston, TX; Terri and Rich Nofsinger of Liberty, MO; Kim Smith of Belfair; Kandi and Tim Berg of Yacolt, WA; Steve Johnson of Omaha; Greg and Mary Johnson of Sioux Falls, SD; Debbie and Ray Thomas of Omaha; 15 great-grandchildren; her great-great-grandson, Aiden Johnson of Sioux Falls; her sister-in-law, Ellen Rasmussen of Audubon; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.