Ella M Johnson Lemke, 90 years old, passed away October 12, 2022 from a severe stroke she suffered the previous day.
She was born on April 18, 1932, in Meadow, South Dakota, the first child of Helena and Charley Johnson and married Raymond Lemke in 1953. They were married for 66 years before his passing in 2019.
Childhood years were spent on a farm in South Dakota with a brother and two sisters. When she was eight years old, her mother passed away and she took over the duties of cooking and chores. When asked about her childhood, she would always reply, it was a lot of work. She attended a one room school house and graduated from Lemmon High School.
After their marriage, Ella and Ray moved to Orange, Texas for a short time before moving to Utah in 1960, where they raised their three children, Steve, Shar and Denise. Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, they joined the Assembly of God Church, which later became Salt Lake Christian Center. Ella was a devout Christian and served in her church for many, many years. Her final church home was at Canyons Church. Until the pandemic, if the doors were open, she was in church!
The family lived in Granger for fifteen years until Ray built Ella’s dream home in Sandy. They were the first house on the street and Ella loved her home and neighborhood. Ella was active at the Sandy Senior Center and was awarded Volunteer of the Year in 2011.
Ella worked outside of the home for OC Tanner and then Sears for over 20 years. She loved to garden, cook, bake, entertain, travel, watch the Utah Jazz, and go to church!
Survived by her three children, Steve (Renee), Shar and Denise (Tom), four grandchildren, Jennifer, AJ, Jessica and Michael (Chel) and one great granddaughter, Kindra, her brother Harold (Donna) and sister Verna. Preceded in death by her husband Raymond, parents, sister Mary and grandson Matthew. Mom loved her dog Buddy and we hope dogs go to heaven so she can be reunited with her Fido.
Services will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East Dimple Dell Road (10600 South), Sandy, Utah. A visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. prior to the services.
If you would like to watch the recorded services online, please click on the blue "Watch Services" button above.
We want to extend our thoughts to Steve, Char, and Denise for your loss. We enjoyed spending time with Ella these last years and holidays. Zach enjoyed it too and loved Buddy.
Condolences to all the family.
Joe and Zach