Viola May Johnson was born on January 3, 1929, in Fremont, Michigan, to Albert and Orpha (Crummel) Johnson, the seven of eight children, and went to her eternal reward on Saturday, May 23, 2026. She attended Lordon School in Fremont, MI, Consolidated School in Walkerville, MI, before returning to Fremont, graduating in 1947.

Vi moved to Marion, Indiana, and worked at Farnsworth Television and then RCA. She met Robert Eugene Miller on Labor Day weekend, they were married on November 8, 1947, in a double wedding with her sister Marceil and Charles Miller, Robert’s brother. They had five children, Kenneth, Linda, Phillip, Keith and David.

The family moved to Kalamazoo, MI in 1966 where Bob worked at Fisher Body. Viola was self-employed in sales (Amway, Electrolux Vacuums), painting and cleaning her church’s interiors and private homes.

Wherever Vi traveled, she found a church to attend, the Wesleyan church in Fremont, MI., Hillside Wesleyan Church, Marion, IN., Lighthouse Wesleyan Church (formerly Kalamazoo Wesleyan). After Bob retired, they wintered and volunteered thirteen years at the World Gospel Mission (WGM) Southwest Indian School (SIS) in Peoria, AZ. They attended the Grace Bible Church in Sun City, where Vi sang in the choir and with the “Grace Notes” Ladies Chorus. After Bob died in 2001, Vi volunteered at Taylor Christian School in McAllen, TX, living in Alamo, TX at “Bibleville” and was active in the Singles group and choir.

While attending a grief support group in Texas, she met Lowell Hogberg from Newfolden, MN. After a very brief engagement, they were married on March 20, 2004. They summered in Thief River Falls, MN and continued wintering in Texas, singing duets and in the choir. They were members of the Gideons of Minnesota and Texas. In November of 2012, they were in a terrible car accident, with Vi receiving multiple injuries. They moved back to Thief River Falls and lived there until Lowell’s death on August 3, 2016.

Vi moved back to Kalamazoo to be closer to her kids and lived with Linda before moving into Spring Manor Senior Apartments. In 2024 she moved to The Laurels of Galesburg where she was loved by many as “such a little cutie but with sass.”

She was preceded in death her husbands, Robert Miller and Lowell Hogberg; parents, Albert and Orpha Johnson; stepfather, Rev. Charles Miller; siblings: Beverly (Charles) Willis, Catherine(Richard) West, Robert (Jean), Albert, Jr (Ellen), Harold (Edna) Johnson, Marceil (Charles) Miller, brother-in-law Charles Beckner, son, Kenneth Miller and daughter-in-law, Nancy Miller, son-in-law, Lester Frank Baird, grandson, Thomas Miller and step son-in-law, Danny Hogberg.

Survivors include her sister: Florene Beckner of Indiana, her children: Linda Baird, Keith (Mary), David (Judi) Miller of Kalamazoo, and Phillip (Nancy) Miller of Elizabethtown, KY., and step-children: Marinell Bodine of Wisconsin, Myles (Judy) and Dave (Pam) Hogberg, Minnesota, and many grand, great and great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.