Marcella Ann Johnson, 63
Marcella Ann Johnson, 63, of Kalispell, passed away on Feb. 4, 2022, after a long battle with early onset Alzheimer’s.
Marci was born in 1958 in Great Falls, along with her twin brother, rounding out the last of four children. After graduating from Great Falls High School in 1976, she moved to Havre to work for KRTV news and then Klamath Falls, Oregon, to work for their newspaper before moving to Kalispell. There she worked for the Whitefish Pilot, Stebbins Orthodontics and Kalispell Travel Co. where she saw the world and was able to ski the Swiss Alps.
While in Kalispell, Marci met her forever love and husband, Christopher Johnson. The two were married in the Lakeside Chapel in 1985 and Marci took on the role of mother to Chris’s young son, Cory Johnson. They co-founded Best in Bronze art castings foundry in 1987, casting sculptures for local artists. After selling that business they moved to Sarasota, Florida, in 1989 to start a Chem Dry business together. In 1996 they welcomed their daughter Mackenzie Johnson and eventually moved back to Kalispell to start their third joint business, First Propane. Marci loved being a mom and put her heart and soul into their businesses. She was a self-taught and savvy business woman who read the dictionary every morning and managed the operations side of the business until the two retired in 2011. In 2014 they began wintering in Gold Canyon, Arizona, where Marci was well known in their community for having the best dance moves at Zumba class and at the community dances and parties, loving on other people’s cats and dogs, and having the best laugh and always smiling.
Marci was the life of the party. She made friends wherever she was and always wanted to make people laugh. She told the best jokes, and was always planning parties, last minute trips, and get-togethers with friends. She wanted everyone to have a good time. While famous for wearing white, she loved to dress up in colorful dresses and dance the night away. You had to drag her off the dance floor and she was not afraid to show off her best moves. Her laugh was contagious and could wake up an entire campground. She was a pet lover, always bringing home strays and petting dogs in the street. Her favorite place in the world was sitting in an innertube on Flathead Lake in the summer. She loved Montana, her family, and the friends and memories she made here.
Marcella Johnson was predeceased by her mother and father.
She is survived by her loving and dedicated husband, Chris Johnson, who took care of her up until her final day. She is also survived by her two children, Cory Johnson and Mackenzie Johnson; her siblings, Pam Wilhelm, Mark Nester and Dean Nester; and her best friends turned family that also took care of her until her final day, Linda and John Masterson and Sonja and Ray Merrill.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to The Alzheimer’s Association to fund research to one day find a cure for Alzheimer’s.
Services will be announced at a later date.