Dorothy Mae Hall Johnson was born in Thornton, Idaho on May 20, 1922 to Karl and Merinda Horne and went to be with her Lord and Savior on October 21, 2020. She grew up with her five sisters and two brothers on the family farm. She attended grade school in a little county school and graduated from high school in Rigby, Idaho in 1940.
She met Lionel Hall and they were married in 1941. Lionel was in the Idaho National Guard and was stationed at Camp Murray near Fort Lewis. They made their first home in Olympia. Lionel was deployed to the South Pacific when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Dorothy moved back to Rigby while he was deployed and worked at the Reed Drug Store. After the war Lionel put his name in the lottery for land in the Yakima Valley called the Roza. The government wanted the land to go to Veterans. His name was drawn for 80 acres thus they moved to Washington to homestead. They raised Ken, Brent, Ranae and Dwight on the farm.
In 1968 Dorothy was in the process of opening a women’s dress shop, Fashionette, in downtown Prosser when husband Lionel, daughter Ranae and son Dwight were killed in a tragic traffic accident along with three others on Euclid Road outside of Grandview. It was only through her faith in God and His help that she was able to carry on with her two surviving sons.
She opened the dress shop and in 1970 she married Jerry Johnson. She sold her shop four years later and helped Jerry in his store part time. Dorothy and Jerry were members of the Grace Fellowship Church in Prosser. She and Jerry had twenty-seven happy years together.
Dorothy was also preceded in death by her parents, son Brent, sisters Lois, Helen, Ina and Mary, brothers Harold and Ned, husband Jerry and granddaughters Shelly and Christina. She is survived by her son Ken (Linda) Hall of Prosser, sister Barbara Griffin of Shelley, Idaho, sister in law Margene Horne of Weiser, Idaho, stepson Dan (Margie) Johnson of Toppenish, stepson Bart Johnson of Seattle, seven grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren, three great great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Prosser Funeral Home and Crematorium is in charge of arrangements. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Memorials may be made to Heartlinks Hospice. You may leave a message for the family at www.prosserfuneralhome.com
