Jeffrey "Jeff" Lee Johnson of Bismarck, ND passed away September 22nd, 2021 at Sanford Medical Center with his children at his side.
An informal sharing memories gathering for friends and family will be held on Friday, October 1st, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. at Kulseth Funeral Home in Bowman, ND. Please come dressed casually as Jeff preferred. There will be a private burial. All Jeff's family/friends are invited to celebrate Jeff in the way he would have wanted at Buffalo Wild Wings (North Bismarck) on Saturday, October 2nd, 2021 starting at 5:00 p.m.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Lee Johnson was born on June 6th, 1955 in Bowman, ND to Wayne & Ramona (Peterson) Johnson. Jeff grew up in Scranton, ND on a farm south of Scranton and then as he grew older, on a farm northeast of Scranton. He joined a family of three older siblings, sisters Mona and Jawayne and brother Curtis. Living down the road from his Deutscher family gave Jeff one of his greatest and lifelong friends, his cousin Tom.
Growing up on the farms, Jeff experienced many mishaps and adventures that shaped him into the person his friends and family experienced later in life. He was first introduced to one of the great loves of his life, riding motorcycle, at an early age and continued the love affair throughout his life. Jeff strived and excelled in athletics (all conference in football) at Scranton Public School, where he attended from the 1st grade through high school, graduating in 1973.
After graduation, Jeff enrolled at Dickinson State College and studied (kind of) for a semester or two.
In the spring of 1974, Jeff married his high school sweetheart, Sandi Heimer, and they settled down to married life in Scranton, ND. The first to come was a son, Jason Lee. A daughter, Bridget Ann followed.
Jeff worked at multiple occupations during the time he lived in Scranton to include the Scranton Equity, Tex's Welding shop in Reeder and the Knife River Coal Mine in Gascoyne. After the mine closed in Gascoyne Jeff moved to Beulah, ND to continue at the mine there. In 1989 Jeff decided to head back to college at NDSU for 2 years. This time he actually spent time studying. Jeff moved to Bismarck and completed his radiologic technology degree (as the outstanding student of the year) at MedCenter One. He worked for MedCenter One/Sanford for the next 29 years. He was meticulous in not only his job but all aspects of his life. From this job Jeff found his other family.
During his work at the Scranton Equity, he worked delivering propane to locations throughout southwestern North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota. During one trip, he had a horrible accident with the truck running off a high embankment and rolling over and then exploding. Jeff was thrown out of the truck, not wearing a seat belt, which saved his life. However, the accident damaged his right ear causing an almost total loss of hearing in that ear. After the accident, Jeff began saying "what" a lot and began a lifelong obsession with not wearing a seat belt, as he attributed not dying in the crash to not wearing a seat belt.
Jeff continued his love affair with riding motorcycles and made many trips with his brother Curtis (and his wife Cheryl) throughout the United States, Canada and Alaska. The trips were replete with great times, great fellowship, great scenery, great food, some problems which make the trips into adventures and always a yearning for the next trip. Jeff also traveled with his very good friend, Bryan (and some others) on several trips to the Black Hills and surrounding areas.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, you could find Jeff along with his closest friends enjoying a Coors Light and swapping stories usually at BWW. Guaranteed Jeff and his best buddy, Ross Kunz are enjoying a cold one in heaven. You could not find a better or more loyal friend. Jeff had a quick wit and great sense of humor. He always enjoyed being part of radiology students training and made sure they were doing things the correct way (his way). Jeff worked hard to provide for his family and rarely missed a day of work.
Jeff leaves behind his family who will be forever lost without him. Jeff is survived by his children Jason Johnson of Fargo, ND and Bridget (Carl) Miller of Beulah, ND; his mom Ramona Johnson of Scranton, siblings Mona (Marwin) Stafford, Jawayne (Tom) Sahr and Curtis (Cheryl) Johnson, his grandchildren Aiden, Kenna, Keiren, Reagen and Masin. His "chosen family" Bob & Alanda Small, Bryan Grossman, Todd & Shirley Porter, Jeremy & Tara Wagner and Joyce Stastny.