Ellen M. Johnston

Ellen Marie Johnston, daughter of Ernest and Emma (Kamradt) Larson, was born December 3, 1946, at Union Hospital in New Ulm, Minnesota.

She died Sunday, August 16, 2020, at her home in Skyline, Mankato. She was 73 years old.

Ellen grew up at Sunnyside Farm in rural Hanska, went to school in Lake Crystal and attended Augsburg University in Minneapolis. On May 23, 1970, she married David Johnston at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Butternut. They bought their first home in St. Peter in 1973, and then in 1996, purchased and moved to the farm house where Ellen grew up in rural Hanska. Ellen ran a daycare service from her St. Peter home in the 1980s. She later worked at multiple printing companies in North Mankato and Sleepy Eye. She was an active bowler and softball player. She was also a troop leader for Campfire girls and boys. She enjoyed fishing, riding horses, refinishing furniture, collecting antiques, freezing and canning foods, studying her family’s genealogy, playing cards, and spending time with her nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband, David; one brother, Peter (Linda) Larson of Monticello; one daughter, Amy Johnston of Minneapolis; two sons, Chris (Danny) Johnston of Chicago and Matt (Kathy) Johnston of Mankato; and two grandchildren Parker and Ethan.

She was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Delmar, Dale, Maynard, and Merlin; and an infant sister, Janet Caroll.

Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Thursday, August 20, 2020 at Northview-North Mankato Mortuary, 2060 Commerce Drive, North Mankato. Burial will be in Rice Lake Lutheran Cemetery, rural Hanska, MN. Visitation will be 1 hour prior to the service at Northview on Thursday.