Hildegard Johanna "Pat" Johnson, age 94 was born on June 12, 1931 in Klein Heinrichsdorf, Ostpreussen, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on September 23, 2025. Her remarkable life spanned continents and was marked by resilience, love, and devotion to family.
At the age of twelve, Hildegard fled East Prussia to Bavaria with her mother during the Russian Army invasion, experiencing firsthand the upheaval of World War II. In 1950, while working in Landsberg, Germany, she met Lawrence Earl Johnson, a U.S. Air Force sergeant, and they married in 1951. Pregnant with their first child, she courageously crossed the Atlantic on the QE2 to join her husband in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, beginning her new life in America.
Embracing her adopted country, Hildegard, renamed herself "Pat” and was devoted to creating a warm and loving home in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. She found great joy in homemaking, gardening, and raising her two daughters. Her nurturing spirit extended beyond her own family when she established a home daycare, lovingly caring for more than one hundred children over twenty five years.
Pat is survived by her daughters, Mona Gliniany (Tom) of Otsego, Minnesota, and Brenda Jorde (Eric) of Minnetonka, Minnesota; five grandchildren; Matthew, Angela, Andrew, Josef, James; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Fritz Klein and Paula Göritz Klein; her beloved husband, Larry Johnson; her sister, Friedel Theile; her brother, Bruno Klein; her infant sister Meta Klein; and her niece, Bridget Theile.
Pat will be interred alongside her husband's remains at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a private graveside service Autumn of 2025.
The family extends heartfelt gratitude to the Care Center staff at Lake Minnetonka Shores Presbyterian Home for their compassionate and loving care of our “Oma” during her final months.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21).
