Richard Dean (Dick) Johnson passed away peacefully in Brighton, Colorado, at the age of 97 following a long and vibrant life fully lived.
Dick was born in Cushing Nebraska to Dora and Clarence Johnson on March 27, 1929. Clarence died when Dick was 2 years old, and Dora moved to Brule, Nebraska with Dick and his older sister, Gloria, to be Brule’s telephone operator. Dora married Albert Hinrichs a few years later and they moved to his farm 9 miles south of Brule. Dick went to country school through 8th grade and Brule High School during WWII. He took cream and eggs to the train station each morning in a Model A.
He met Donna Gillespie at a dance in Sidney, Nebraska in 1948 and they married on October 15, 1949. Dick and Donna started their own farm near Brule while starting a family. In the 1960s Dick ran the first mobile feed grinder business in the area and he developed and ran a pig farrowing operation. In the late 1960s he was the first farmer on the south table land of Brule to start irrigating with a center pivot sprinkler.
In 1962 he was awarded the Outstanding Farmer of the Year. During this time, he and Donna raised five children: Jim, Rodney (Ruth), Sandra (Mark) Bay, Dale (Sheila), and Barry (Patrick). Dick was also active in the Brule community volunteering for many years with the Lions Club and serving on the Board of the school, cemetery, Co-op, and St. John’s Lutheran Church. He also served as a representative for the Sugar Beet Growers Association.
When they had successfully raised their children, all Dick wanted to do was spend time with Donna. They danced, fished, played pool, and laughed with friends, old and new as they traveled to places like Africa, New Zealand, Ireland and all 50 states. While wintering in Mesa, Arizona for 20 years, Dick took up woodworking and made over 50 intarsia pieces.
Donna passed away on September 28, 2017, after having been married for 68 years. Dick then moved to Highlands Ranch, Colorado to be closer to family while still playing pool, making friends and telling stories until near the end (OK, he never stopped telling stories).
He is survived by his 5 children, 9 grandchildren, 6 step-grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, 10 step-great-grandchildren. He will be missed, but now he and Donna can once again dance all night long.
Funeral services for Dick will be Thursday at 10:30 a.m. MST on October 15, 2026, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Brule, NE with the Rev. Jon Dickmander officiating. Interment will be in the Brule cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 9 a.m. MST until the time of service at the church.
Draucker Funeral Home has been trusted with arrangements.
Online condolences may be left at www.drauckerfh.com. Services will be live streamed at www.drauckerfh.com