With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Thomas Gordon “TJ” Johnson, 83, of Oshkosh. Tom passed away peacefully in the early morning of June 3, 2025, at Bethel Home in Oshkosh. Born on the family farm in Scandinavia WI, February 4, 1942, to Thomas and Esther Johnson. Tom lived his life defined by his love of family, friends and being outdoors.
Tom lived and worked on the family farm until after his graduation from Scandinavia High School in 1960. He moved to Oshkosh with his parents, shortly after, where he met his future wife, Karen. Tom and Karen were married at First Baptist Temple in Oshkosh, March 17, 1962. Together they built a beautiful family, welcoming 4 children.
On most weekends you could find the family camping, often at Evergreen Campsite, where lots of great memories were made. Tom and Karen enjoyed spending time together on several sporting activities as well. Fishing, hunting, bowling and darts to name a few. Brewers baseball was always on in the summer and the Green Bay Packers football in the fall. You could always find him rooting for his favorite team.
After working a couple jobs, Tom found his lifelong career at the Oshkosh Fire Department. Starting in February 1966, “TJ” as he was known to most of the firefighters, made several close friends who enjoyed the outdoors as much as he did. From spending time playing softball on the fire department team, to fishing in Canada, TJ was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed the time spent with his fellow firefighters.
Tom is survived by his wife of 63 years, Karen; daughters, Kim (Michael) Sawall, Kristine (Dean Coenen) Schoonover and Tammy (Thomas) Bauer; son, Dean (Heather) Johnson; grandchildren, Chadrick (Carla) Schoonover, Valerie (Daniel) Mullen, Tiffany (Joseph) Harding, Alex (Stacey) Schoonover, Payge (John) Mulligan, Erin (Jared) Pixley, Tylar Johnson and Hailey Johnson; great-grandchildren, Tristan (Feather Cornelius) Schoonover, Brennan Mullen, Ethan Schoonover, Arthur Pixley, Zachary Schoonover, Jacob Mulligan and another due early 2026; and great-great-grandson, Anakin Cornelius. He is further survived by many loved nieces, nephews and close friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Esther Johnson; in-laws, Harold and Ruby Anderson; brothers, LaVerne (Alice) Johnson and Kenneth Johnson; sister, Arlene (DuWell) Arendt; brother-in laws, Joseph DuWell and Orville Arendt; nieces, Linda McCoy and Susan Duerr; and son-in-law, Randy Schoonover.
Visitation will be celebrated from 12:00pm to 2:00pm on Friday, June 13, 2025, at Bethel Home Chapel, 225 N Eagle Street, Oshkosh WI, with a Christian service to immediately follow at 2:00pm.
His final resting place will be at Lake View Memorial Park, Oshkosh WI.
Thank you to the staff at Moments Hospice and Bethel Home for all their care and support.
Tom loved his family very much. He felt he was truly blessed with a great wife, great kids & grandkids as well as great friends. So, we will not say goodbye but so long for now. We love you and miss you already.
