Dennis L. Johnson

Dennis L. Johnson, 82, of Pender, Nebraska, passed away on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at the Pender Community Hospital. A memorial visitation will be held on Sunday, September 21, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Veterans Room at the Pender Community Center in Pender, Nebraska. A memorial service will be held on Monday, September 22, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church near Pender. Military honors by the Pender American Legion Post 55 will be held following the service. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation.

Dennis Lee Johnson was born on December 10, 1942, in Pender, NE, to Agnes (Schnier) and Carl Lawrence Johnson. Dennis, known to most as Denny, lived a full life as a husband, father, and friend.  Following graduation from Pender High School in 1961, Denny attended the University of Nebraska on a Regents Scholarship for three semesters before choosing to move home to work alongside his father as a tractor mechanic at Johnson Service in Pender.  At a dance in 1963, Denny met Dianne Canarsky of Bancroft, Nebraska, when she spilled her cocktail on him on the dance floor. The hand of fate had intervened, and they married on September 6, 1964. Denny proudly served his country as a sergeant with the 375th Army Security Agency Company in Fort Hood, Texas, from June 1964 to June 1968, specializing in signals intelligence and electronic countermeasures. Denny and Dianne began to build their family with Christine Carole, who was born in Texas in 1967.  After his military service, Denny and Dianne returned to Pender, where Denny again joined his father at Johnson Service, eventually taking over the business. For several years in the late 60s to early 70s, Dennis assisted Leonard Janke with his Can-Am race cars that competed in major events of the time. Dianne, after earning nursing licenses and working in a few different states, landed a job as a registered nurse at Pender Community Hospital, where she worked for 50 years. Russell Allen was born in 1969, and Teresa Rae in 1972.

Denny and Dianne kept their young family busy with camping trips, boating, and water skiing in the warmer months and snowmobiling in the winter. Their rambunctious group of friends, the self-proclaimed “rednecks,” had years of fun, somehow without getting into legal trouble. One evening found them changing the marquee at Pender’s movie theater to what they considered a more compelling message. The tight-knit group gathered, danced, and celebrated life together for years.  Denny was a regular in the local bowling league, a faithful member of St. Mark’s and later St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pender, and an active participant in the American Legion, participating in the honor guard at funerals, parades, and other ceremonies. For many years, he and Dianne rarely missed an at-home Husker football or volleyball game, traveling to and from Lincoln with unwavering enthusiasm.  Denny will be remembered for his quick and sarcastic wit, his mechanical genius, and his faith, but mostly for his patience with and love for his family. He never said an unkind word about the scratches on the car and truck when Dianne backed into the closed garage door and garbage bins repeatedly. He did not lose his temper when Chris’s childhood candle-making experiment forced him to call a plumber (the only time Dianne can remember him not being able to fix something around the house). He taught Russ how to go fast and have fun but to avoid dangerous situations. And he always waited up, every single time, to make sure Teresa arrived home safely after babysitting at night.  He taught us all to appreciate vocabulary, grammar, and the art of a well-told joke, to make sure when giving a ride that everyone makes it safely inside before driving away, and to always ride at the end of the pack (snowmobiling or otherwise) in case anyone broke down or needed help. He made sure no one was ever left behind.

Dennis is survived by his wife, Dianne; daughter, Chris, and son-in-law, Ken Reynolds of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; son, Russell, of Charlotte, North Carolina; daughter, Teresa, and son-in-law, Leon Brown, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and multiple grandcats, all of whom he loved.