Leanore Johnson

A woman of deep love and faith, Leanore Johnson lived a life of hard work and service to her family, her church and her Lord. The year 1926 was right at the peak of the roaring twenties a time full of economic prosperity, only three years before the Great Depression. This year also saw the creation of anti-freeze that let drivers use their cars all year round. But this wasn't what made 1926 the happy year that it was for the Rados family. On the 9th of July, 1926, in Lakewood, Ohio, parents John and Victoria (Patrick) Rados celebrated the birth of their third daughter, Leanore. Leanore was born the middle child of five girls; in order: Lucille, Leanore, Florence, Erma, and Arlene. Their parents were both of hard-working Polish heritages. Their father dreamed of owning a dairy farm and found one in Levering, Michigan, just 16 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. John also dreamed of a family of strapping sons to work the farm, but when he got a litter of girls instead, he simply treated them like boys and their childhood was filled with long hours of milking cows and hauling hay. Leanore only went through the 9th grade in school so she could work on the farm full time. Life, however, was not all work and no play for the Rados girls. There were the usual small town distractions, but in particular there were the dances in town. One night in town, out with her sister, Lucille, Leanore was introduced by Lucille's boyfriend and future husband, Olin, to a tall, lanky, handsome young man with black curly hair and green eyes. Leanore was instantly smitten by Olin's friend, Stanley "Bill" Johnson. Good looks were not the only thing Bill had going for him, he was also the proud owner of a Model A Ford, that provided hours of entertainment, going two-tracking around Levering and Pellston, Bill's hometown. Leanore and Bill saw a lot of each other and fell in love. After a year of dating, while Bill was on leave from his duties as a U.S. Army Sergeant, he and Leanore were wed together in holy matrimony on September 22, 1945. Shortly thereafter, Bill returned to Italy to finish out the last year of his tour. While he was away, Leanore discovered that she was pregnant. She received the happy news not from a doctor but from her father-in-law who informed her that it was a pregnancy causing her continual illness! When Bill returned home, soon he and Leanore, along with new baby Nellie, moved to Muskegon where Bill began work at Teledyne Motors. In short order, they moved into their first home on Getty Street in Muskegon Heights. Leanore worked at the Coral Inn and then in a factory in Grand Haven. Bill would often work two shifts so that Leanore could stay home and attend to their growing family. After Nellie, son Stanley, Jr. followed in '48, then came Linda in '50 and finally son William was born in '66. Bill was a nurturing personality, especially for his children, but also his gardens. In 1954, after eight years on Getty Street, lured by the space available for Bill's gardening dreams, they moved to their Anderson Road home where Leanore would spend the rest of her days. Leanore and Bill enjoyed the outdoors together and would even go hunting. Leanore, however, was not your typical hunter. Bill would drive her up to a tree where he'd get out her milk crate so she could sit down and wait until it was time for her to get picked up to go back home! For many years, their children thought the main purpose for their hunting trips was just so they could go and sit in the woods. They were shocked, when after many unrewarded years of hunting, Bill finally got one! But if Leanore had only wanted to sit in the woods, it would have been understandable for the value of hard work she learned in childhood carried through to her adult years. Besides the transformer factory in Grand Haven, she worked on weekends for many years as a bartender for some friends who owned the Alibi bar in Twin Lake. For the last 25 years of her working life, Leanore worked as a florist for Fisher Brothers Greenhouses. Besides working and the outdoors, it was more simply spending time together that Leanore and Stanley enjoyed. Saturday nights were often spent dancing to the big band sounds in rural nightclubs with fancy names like the Half Moon Inn and the Night Spot while the kids all spent the night with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Slusher. Other Saturday nights were spent with neighbors "Aunt Edith and Uncle Esco." They'd come over for a dinner of either pancakes or hamburgers. The menu was limited to these two choices because Leanore had spent the day baking breads, cakes, and cloverleaf buns. Following the meal, they'd spend the evening playing games like horseshoes, carrom, and other board games. Leanore was a woman of faith and was deeply devoted to her church, St. Mary's of the Woods in Twin Lake. She gave her all to the ministry of her parish through the sharing of her time, money, and talent. She was often found at the church cleaning, cooking chicken dinners, but also volunteering her children to help her! It was clear the impact that she made on the church when she became a shut-in after her hip surgery 20 years ago, her priest or other parishioners would bring her the Eucharist every week, without fail. Up until his own death in 1990, Bill was by the side of the woman that he loved everyday, waiting on her, spoiling her, loving her, simply making her feel like the most important person in the world. The difficulty of his passing was thus intensified for Leanore. Despite the loneliness, she took her disability in stride, saying, "Well, it's about time I retired." She filled her days with television, reading the newspaper, and sharing life over the phone with her close friends, Kitty, Bonnie and Rose. Leanore was a woman of many talents, gifts, abilities, and loves. As a daughter, a wife, a mother, a parishioner, Leanore gave her love through hard work and faithful devotion. In this way we remember the life of Leanore Johnson, treasuring her love in our hearts and thanking God for the impact of her life with us.