Gwendolyn D. Johnson age 48 of Montana City

On the morning of September 25^th 2013, Gwendolyn Johnson passed away at peace in her home in Montana City, MT after a two year battle with ALS. Gwendolyn was 48 years old. She was born in Blytheville Arkansas on September 10^th 1965. She was the second child of Linda and James “Jay” Martin .

After being raised in a military family and moving around most of her childhood, Gwendolyn came to Helena, Montana in 1988 from Carthage, Texas with her ex-husband Richard Henkel and their three children. She was a young women with a southern twang who talked too fast and didn’t realize how much colder Montana was than Texas. Her first winter here was one of the coldest Helena had ever seen, but she didn’t let that scare her off. She stayed in Montana for almost 25 years and fell more in love with this state as the years passed. She married her third husband, and the love of her life, Dean Michael Johnson on June 11th 1993. Together they would raise a family and explore Montana either through camping or riding their motorcycle. Gwendolyn loved rock and roll, reading books, watching football (especially the Packers or Redskins), playing card games, cooking and grilling with her husband and spending time in her garden.

She graduated from the Helena College of Technology in 1998 with a degree in nursing. After a few nursing jobs she finally landed her dream job at Fort Harrisons VA hospital. She took great pride in her work and always took her job seriously. The thing she loved most about her job was getting the opportunity to meet veterans from around the state and hear all of their wonderful stories. All of her hard work, dedication and compassion for her patients paid off when she was awarded Nurse of the Year and also the Excellence in Nursing LPN award. Although greatly honored by both awards, she felt most proud when patients would refer to her as “their favorite nurse.”

Gwendolyn was preceded in death by her father James “Jay” Martin and her husband Dean Johnson. She is survived by her mother Linda Martin, her sister Connie Martin, her three children Derek Bayless, Zachary (Katey) Bayless, and Maggie (Tucker) Visser, and her granddaughter Clementyne Bayless.

Gwendolyn may not have been a religious woman but she believed in a beautiful place where she would be reunited with her father and her beloved husband. Her family takes great comfort in knowing that she has finally been set free from her worldly prison and raised up to Paradise. Gwendolyn was a wonderful mother, a caring wife, a devoted nurse, and most of all a warm and compassionate person. She will be greatly missed by those whose lives she has touched.

Our family appreciates all of the hard work and caring dedication provided by St Peters hospice and all the warm thoughts and prayers from those connected to us. No services are scheduled at this time. Cremation has taken place. Local arrangements have been entrusted to Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home and Crematory.