Obituary for Thomas Johansen

Thomas Johansen, 83, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday, December 6th with his sweetheart by his side.  A celebration of Tom’s life will be Saturday, December 11, at the United Methodist Church in Van Horne, Iowa.  Visitation will be from 10-11 AM with service at 11:30. Steve and Perry Banse will officiate.  

Tom was born at home July 22, 1938 to John and Ellen (Olson) Johansen.  He delivered newspapers at the age of 10. At 12 and 13 he worked for Don Leonard as a farmhand and worked with Harry Stewart until he was 18, when he got a job with Chicago Great Western Railroad as a depot agent.  After three years he became a partner in a gas/service station where he did mechanical and body work.  He then worked 20 years for United Airlines as a ramp agent, freight agent, and customer service agent.  He enjoyed repairing ground equipment for United and enjoyed working on old cars and tractors. In later years he volunteered over 5,000 hours at St. Luke’s Hospital.  

April 11, 1959, he married Ellen Ehrens.  They divorced in 1981.  In 1986 he was driving to Cedar Rapids to attend a Single Again meeting when he saw a double rainbow.  That evening he met Bev Banse and discovered that she had seen the same double rainbow.  June 6, 1987 they were married.  

He is survived by Bev, his wife of 34 years, 6 children; his daughters Sheri (John) Schulte, Diana (Robert) Christen, Elizabeth (Scott) Johannes and his bonus children; Sue (Mark) Jarvi, Steve (Rose) Banse and Perry (Cindi) Banse, Sisters Jean Duncan and Karen Fischer, and 61 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Gary.  

Memorials may be directed to St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Van Horne.