Saint Cloud
May 5, 1939 – December 28, 2024
Marilyn Burdene Johnson (née Fena), 85, of Cold Spring, MN died on December 28, 2024. She is survived by her husband, Jim; children, Jay, Bart (Ruth), and Maria; her grandchildren, Gianna, Jameson, Norah, Bennett, Wesley, and Millie; her brother, John (Debbie) Fena; and many loving nieces, nephews and friends.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, John and Prena Fena (née Delgrande); brother, Jack (Kay) Fena; and sister Joan Fena.
Marilyn was born on May 5, 1939, in Hibbing, MN. She attended Assumption Hall Catholic School and graduated from Hibbing High School in 1957. Marilyn went on to study at Hibbing Community College, the University of Miami at Coral Gables, and the University of Minnesota, where, after a 51-year hiatus, she finished her Bachelors Degree in History in 2013.
Marilyn was an organist at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hibbing. She was also a high school football, basketball, and hockey cheerleader. In 1953, she met Jim Johnson in their ninth-grade algebra class. They were together ever since. Marilyn and Jim eventually married in 1962 and moved to Cleveland, OH, where she worked at the Cleveland Playhouse, a job she loved.
A few years later, they moved back to Minnesota, had three children, and settled in Cold Spring. They lived there for 52 years.
Marilyn retired in the early 2000s from a career in sales and telemarketing to focus on her grandchildren, traveling, cooking Italian food, and baking copious amounts of cookies and other delicious sweets.
Mass of Christian burial was held at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Cold Spring, MN at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, 2025. Burial was at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, January 4, 2025 in the Hibbing Park Cemetery, Hibbing, MN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to either the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud or Quiet Oaks Hospice House.
Services were with the Wenner Funeral Home, Cold Spring, MN.
