Johanna Toering

JOHANNA HENRIETTA TOERING was born to Gerrit and Wilhelmina (Schelhaas) Jansen on December 1, 1930 on a farm near Brooten, Minnesota where she was raised and attended school in District 70. She completed her education at the high school in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. In May, 1949, she moved to Pipestone, Minnesota where she became employed as a nurse’s aide at the Pipestone County Hospital. On November 5, 1952, she was united in marriage to Cornelius Toering at the Christian Reformed Church in Brooten. After their marriage, they lived in Waynesville, Missouri where Cornie was stationed. After his honorable discharge on March 1, 1954, they returned to Pipestone and Johanna worked at the hospital until 1957 when they decided to go into farming. Johanna and Cornie rented their first farm by Cazenovia, Minnesota. They then moved to a farm near Ihlen, Minnesota. In 1969, they bought a 160-acre farm two and one-half miles south of Pipestone. In 1984, Johanna became employed as a nurse’s aide at the Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone for 11 years. In August, 2009, they moved into Pipestone. Cornie preceded Johanna in death on August 11, 2016. Johanna became a resident in the Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone on November 2, 2018; until her declining health brought her to the Pipestone County Hospice House. Johanna died peacefully there on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at the age of 88 years, five months, and 18 days.

Johanna was a member of the Christian Reformed Church in Pipestone where she was active in the Ladies Aid. She enjoyed helping families with their child care. She also enjoyed gardening and canning the produce. Johanna was also an excellent cook and baker. She was well known for her delicious chocolate chip cookies. She especially loved to spend time with her grandchildren.

She is lovingly remembered by her three children, Sue (Fiancé Leroy Gorter) Toering of Pipestone; Keith (Jill) Toering of Hardwick, Minnesota, and Kenneth (Special Friend Vicki Hillman) Toering of Burnsville, Minnesota; six grandchildren, Jodie (Scott) Van Essen and their children, Morgan, Avery, and Harper, John (Jessica) Bolkema and their children, Lucy and Nora, Ryan (Fiancée Erin Flaherty) Bolkema and their son, Parker, Heidi Bolkema, Kyle Toering and his son, Carter, and Kayla (John) Colianni; and two siblings, Minnie Payne of Fulsom, California, and Ben Jansen of Cross Lake, Minnesota. She is preceded in death by her husband, Cornie; parents; her granddaughter; seven brothers, Henry, Nick, Garrit, Albert, Edward, an infant John, and John Jansen; and five sisters, Catherine Vander Beek, Laura Brink, Ann Lofton, Margaret Kooi, and Josephine Moak.