Merlin P. Johnson, 81 of Blair passed away on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. He was born at home in Trump Coulee on December 9, 1934 to Mendolph and Selma (Melby) Johnson. He graduated from Blair High School in 1953 and married the love of his life, Karen Pederson of Ettrick on October 10, 1959 at First Lutheran Church in Blair, WI.

Merlin was the epitome of a hard working dairy farmer. He farmed on Tappen Coulee ridge for 40+ years. During that time, in 1967, he was awarded the Progressive Farmer award at the Blair Cheese Fest. Following a heart attack in 1990, Merlin and Karen sold the family farm and moved to town, where they have resided ever since. Merlin has stayed busy, working for over 20 years delivering Meals-on-Wheels in the Blair area up until his death.

Merlin was very passionate about many things in his life. First and foremost was his love and devotion to Karen, who he was married to for 57 years.He loved and admired his five children and their families, including his 14 grandchildren. Over the years, he's attended countless ball games, donning the colors of Blair,then Blair-Taylor, Holmen, Winona, and Mount Senario. Attending ball games was as natural for Merlin as drawing breath.

His passion for family blended nicely with his passion for all things sports. In addition to his spirit for local sports, he had a very strong passion for professional sports, most notably, the Chicago Cubs who he proudly proclaimed to be a diehard fan since 1948. He also loved rooting for the Chicago Bears and Bulls, The Wisconsin Badgers, and Northwestern University.

In addition to his love for family and sports,Merlin loved listening to and sharing with others his love for old time Country and Western music, with a particular fondness for Kitty Wells and Earnest Tubb. If you were ever walking along Birch Street on any given weekday morning,you just may have heard the faint rhythm of Dust on The Bible or Walking The Floor Over You.

Additional passions included collecting toy tractors and toy cows; playing Strat-O-Matic baseball; and completing crossword puzzles. He also loved his Ford tractors and vehicles. Merlin also had a particular fondness for playing cards, including Euchre, 500, and Whist. Not only did he play cards, he was pretty darn good.

Merlin was a dedicated and faithful member of Blair Lutheran Churches where he attended church on Sundays and rolled meatballs each year at the annual Lutefisk Dinner. His faith in God was strong and unbroken, even through his heart problems, a battle with prostrate cancer, and the most devastating blow, the death of a grandchild.

Merlin will be sadly missed by his wife, Karen; son, Mitchel (Tracy) Johnson of Onalaska, WI; daughter, Kandace (Tom) Witcraft of Blair, WI; daughter, Pam (Lennie) Mastenbrook of Winona, MN; son, Kamron (Mindy) Johnson of Chippewa Falls, WI; son, Nathan (Nicole) Johnson of Holmen, WI; his grandchildren, Bennett, Griffin and Eleanna Johnson, Grant and Kendall Witcraft, Claire and Carl Mastenbrook, Keegan and Kadin Johnson, Brennan, Emma, Grace and Adelaide Johnson; a sister, Lily Austad of Blair, WI.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved granddaughter, Jillian Witcraft.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. in Blair Lutheran Church East with burial in the Rest Haven Cemetery both in Blair. Pastor John Ashland will officiate.

Visitation will be Friday, September 2, 2016 from 5-7 p.m. in the Jack Funeral Home in Blair and also one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.