Marjorie Johnson

Marjorie “Marge” Lou Johnson passed away peacefully at the age of 94 Sunday, August 17th, 2025. Marge was born on December 17th, 1930 in Muscatine, Iowa, to Ray and Elizabeth Buckman and was the younger sister to Jane Husted.

Growing up in West Liberty Iowa, Marge was the typical farm girl. She loved spending time with her friends Arlene and Bunny. The three of them each had ponies that they would ride to school. Marge’s pony’s name was Dickey who had previously been a circus pony that her dad had won at an auction for her. When the country school was closed, Marge would have to make her way to the city school. It was on these days that she would spend many afternoons with her grandmother who lived across the street. They would spend afternoons quilting, playing and drinking English tea.

In high school she participated in various band and music activities and was voted president of her senior class. Her love of music went with her as she continued her education at the University of Iowa graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. However, her love of music was not the only thing that followed her to the University of Iowa. Her high school sweetheart, O.Q. “Sonny” Johnson was there as well. Sunny was a star athlete on their high school football, basketball and track championship teams. He was dating one of her close friends in high school. During the basketball season, Marge arranged to be at the scorers table and documented the game stats. This meant that each player had to approach her to get into the game. She won over Sonny with her smile and personality and the rest is history. On August 10th, 1952, she and O.Q. were married at the United Methodist Church in West Liberty Iowa. It was so hot that day, their wedding cake was melting all over the table! This was only the beginning of a happy and fun marriage. They welcomed their first son, Max, in 1953 followed by the birth of their second son, Phil, in 1957. They made the move to Fargo in 1970 and the boys started school on April 22nd. It then snowed with blizzard conditions during their first weekend in Fargo, casting some doubt as to why moving to Fargo was a good idea. But eventually, they grew to love their new home. Both her sons would be very active and successful state champions in a variety of sports teams at Fargo South High. Marge loved being a sports mom and traveling the state to support her boys. While raising her family she began offering piano lessons to the community and at Concordia College.

Marge was well known amongst the Fargo-Moorhead community for her love of music and teaching. In addition to Concordia College, she taught piano out of her own home to countless students for over 50 years, spanning even generations amongst families. With her teaching, she also received numerous national honors including, but not limited to, the Music Teachers National Association Emeritus Certified Teacher of Music in piano award.

Marge and O.Q. loved spending time with their family, fishing at Star Lake, weekends at the cabin on Buffalo Lake and being involved in a variety of community groups including the Optimist International of Fargo.

She is finally at peace, reunited with her sweetheart, O.Q., after nearly 14 years apart. He visited her in a dream 2 nights before she passed away and told her “Everything is ready”.

Funeral service will take place on Thursday, August 21st at 7:00 p.m. at Hanson Runsvold funeral home in Fargo, ND. Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00 p.m. prior to the service. Interment will be held at a later date at Lakeside Cemetery, Richwood, MN.

Marjorie is survived by her two sons Max (Kathy) Johnson and Phil Johnson; her nephew Paul (Lori) Husted; 6 grandchildren Charlie (Claire) Whitmore, Jennifer (Pat) Johnson, Emily (Andrew) Foster, David (Jayme) Johnson, Addy (Gunnar) Kollman, Paloma Johnson; and 4 great grandchildren Aiden, Parker, Hudson and Gianni along with many friends who loved her dearly.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to be made to the following organizations to continue her legacy of sharing the gift of music:

- FM Music Teachers Association

- Music Department at Concordia College

- Music Department at University of Iowa