LaVern Johnson revered the good old days of Lyons but also helped lead the tight-knit Boulder County town into the 21st century. Johnson, who helped oversee her beloved community for 75 years, died Saturday at 94.
Johnson was moved to Hover Manor on April 22 after she fell at home and was hospitalized on April 18, according to the Longmont Times-Call.
Once at Hover Manor, Johnson received so many flowers and cards that the staff wanted to know which celebrity had checked into the facility, her son — Jerry Johnson — told the Times-Call.
Johnson was known throughout Lyons and beyond for her tireless work in the community. She also wrote the "About Town" column for the Lyons Recorder for 39 years, said the newspaper’s publisher and editor-and-chief longtime friend Kathleen Spring.
“She told me to take over ownership of the paper because she said ‘If you don’t do it, it will die,’” Spring said. “She hated to see that. Like everything else in Lyons, she thought about how it would affect the town.”
Johnson was a revered, hard-charging symbol of Lyons, Lyons Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen said. “I think the way most people look at Laverne, she was the matriarch of the community.” Simonsen said. “I was thinking about this the other day, when I saw Queen Elizabeth on television. LaVern was the queen of Lyons.”
She served on the town’s parks and recreation committee for 46 years and a number of years ago became an honorary member, Spring said. Her work to improve trails and parks in Lyons led to town officials to rename Meadow Park in May 2016 to LaVern M. Johnson Park.
“She said at the time ‘How many people get something named after them while they’re still alive?” Spring said. "LaVern was modest about it, and she said it's ok if people still call it Meadow Park. It was called that for a long time."
Johnson and Spring worked together to develop the Lyons Redstone Museum.
Johnson was able to rally people to certain causes that benefitted the town, Spring said. “She was able to get people to work together, that was one of her greatest strengths,” Spring said.
Lyons Middle/Senior High School and a nearby subdivision sits on land homesteaded by Johnson’s great-grandfather, John Reese, Spring said.
Johnson was valedictorian of her 1945 graduating class from Lyons High School. She and community member fought for decades to keep the St. Vrain Valley School District from closing Lyons school and having kids bused to local bigger towns, Spring said. Finally in 1970, a bond issue was passed that included the Lyons Middle School/Senior HIgh School.
The ground breaking was an all-day event, and the school opened in 1974, Spring said.
LaVern and her husband LaVerne Johnson also successfully fought the construction of the Coffintop Dam, slated to be built less than a mile from town. The state water board eventually killed plans for the dam, the Times-Call states.
LaVern served as a member and president of the Lyons Historical Society for 46 years. She worked to save an old schoolhouse that is now the Redstone Museum. She also opposed a hazardous waste dump at Dowe Flats, the Times-Call states.
She did back projects she felt could benefit Lyons, including a proposed hotel now being considered by the town for approval, Spring said.
“She could see more people shopping in the stores and also moe taxes brought in to the town coffers," Spring said.
Her husband LaVerne Johnson served on the Town Board from 1982 until his death in 1998. LaVern inherited her husband’s seat, then ran for a series of two-year terms over the next 18 years. She was elected to the board for her last two-year term in 2014, the Times-Call states.
At that time, LaVern Johnson may have been the oldest elected official in Colorado, Simonsen said.
All the while, Johnson was a dedicated square dancer, Simonsen said. “With everything else going on in her life, she never forgot her square dancing,” she said.
CLARIFICATION: This updated version clarifies LaVern Johnson's work in the Lyons community and the time she spent on the Lyons Historical Society.
