Osseo Mourns Former City Council Member Harold Johnson
The city of Osseo is mourning the loss of one of its longtime public servants. Former Osseo City Council Member Harold Johnson died on July 25, a week before what would have been his 87th birthday.
Johnson was born on Aug. 1, 1936 in Primrose, Nebraska.
After he graduated from college, he and a friend, Vic Giere formed the Osseo-based accounting firm Johnson Giere.
He married his wife Gayle in 1977 and spent nearly 50 years working as a CPA.
“The Osseo Lions. He would do the Lions Roar, he was active in his church, he was active in the business community, and his heart was just Osseo,” said Carole Larson, former mayor of Osseo.
Former Osseo City Council Member Harold Johnson died on July 25. He was 86.
Johnson’s Service on the Osseo City Council
Johnson was elected three times to serve on the Osseo City Council.
According to the city of Osseo, his first term started on Jan. 12, 2015.
“I loved him on the city council because he was a numbers person, and he would seep through some of the stuff that looked a little vague, and he would zero in on it,” Larson said. “And it would be taken care of.”
Larson said his passion to serve the city went beyond his work on the council.
“Anything that had to do with putting something together, getting something going, he was all for it,” she said. “His heart was really just for the town.”
Johnson resigned from his council seat this May after a disagreement over the city’s 150th anniversary celebration. He had previously worked with the Osseo Lions to put together the city’s 100th anniversary celebration in 1975.
However, even after resigning, he remained a passionate supporter of the sesquicentennial project.
“His choice was he was going to see that Osseo had a nice new book, which we’re working on,” Larson said. “And that the residents and the people who are connected to Osseo’s history are involved. And it’s just the entire community that he was so passionate about.”
Johnson continued to work on the project until the very end of his life, Larson said.
“My last email to him was, I said ‘Harold, we’ve got your back and we’re off and running, and we’re going to get this completed,'” Larson said. “Even when he was in hospice he was saying ‘now get this box.’ He wants that history preserved. And he knew how to do it from 1975.”
Johnson’s Visitation and Funeral
A visitation will take place from 4-8 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at at the Osseo Evans-Nordby Funeral Home.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 28, at Advent Lutheran Church in Maple Grove.
Johnson’s obituary is available here.
