Fonda Johnson

STOUGHTON - Fonda Faye Conquest Johnson, age 92, died on Sunday, June 23, 2024, at Milestone Senior Living in Stoughton.

She was born on April 27, 1932, the last of four children to Cecil and Mildred Conquest, in Ketchum, Okla. She had two sisters: Norma Lee Beavon and Wilma Jean Merickel; and a brother, Cecil Lee Conquest. She grew up in a very musical family and learned the piano at a very young age.  Even though they moved several times around the Midwest, including Chicago, she often performed musical duets with her brother playing the violin for churches and small gatherings. She learned to love music as a second language.

Fonda attended grade school and middle school throughout her family’s travels but Hutchinson, Minn., is where she attended high school.  She graduated as the president of her class in 1950 and continued to follow her passion as a pianist. She majored in music at Texas College that same year and it was there she met and married Jim Rogers (Denver, Colo.) in 1951.

Fonda and Jim had two children, LoRonda (Rogers) Schroeckenthaler (David), Waukesha, Wis., and Randall Rogers (Nancy), Littleton, Colo. Fonda was a devoted wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter and aunt.  She continued her music career as the pianist or organist for many churches and took odd jobs to supplement her family’s income. Fonda was also an excellent typist and took a job as a secretary at Mead and Hunt, Inc. in Madison, Wis. It was there where she met and later married Donald B. Johnson and together, they bought a farm in Stoughton, Wis., where they raised beef cattle, horses, ponies, sheep, goats and chickens. They also farmed their 40 acres with corn, alfalfa, wheat and other crops.  Fonda especially cherished her large vegetable garden every spring and summer.

They had two girls, Donna Rae (Gary) Tarpinian, Stoughton, Wis., and Jacqueline Faye (Steven Olson) Gargano, Green Bay, Wis.  Fonda also became the stepmother to Donald’s five children: Eric (Joanne), Punta Gorda, Fla., Neil (Pamela), Walworth, Wis., Donald, Stoughton, Wis., Barbara (Boyce) Puryear, West Salem, Wis., and Kristi Johnson, Jefferson, Wis. She treated them with love as if they were her own.

Fonda was known for always lighting up a room with her infectious laughter, smile and unending sense of humor. She had a special way of engaging others, making them feel important, loved and cherished no matter who she was talking to. She most often thought of others first even though she had many trials in her own life.

Fonda was a woman of deep faith and quoted Bible verses as they related to real life situations. She would break out in song singing hundreds of hymns she knew by memory. She attended and volunteered at church consistently and was a true example of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

She was an excellent seamstress, cook, avid reader, crossword puzzle master and was always the best dressed in every room. Not because she wanted to be the best but because she had a great sense of style, class and she enjoyed fashion.

She loved family gatherings, especially spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her positive outlook and unselfishness made her a favorite and she knew how to make every one of them smile. She treated them as individuals and loved them with all her heart.  Fonda made the world a better and more beautiful place for all.

Besides her children and their spouses, Fonda is survived by her grandchildren, Tony (Jenny) Schroeckenthaler, Joshua (Amy) Schroeckenthaler, Ben Rogers, Joe Welborn (Shawn Bollig), Ryan (Kara) Welborn, Kelsey (Cyrus Mistry), Matthew (Martina Styffe) Tarpinian, Tristen (Leah Coyne), Anneliese Gargano, Maria (Brian) Taber, Dan (Colleen) Johnson, Bradley Johnson, Andrew (Michelle Mead) Puryear, Rebecca (Rahul) Jairaj, Adam Puryear, Monica Johnson and Erika Margis; 17 great-grandchildren and several nieces. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, siblings, stepson, Donald; and daughter-in-law, Patricia.

A private graveside ceremony will be held by the family at a later date.

The family would like to express their gratitude to Milestone Senior Living and to Common Heart Hospice for their compassionate care of Fonda. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be gifted in Fonda’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Stoughton

Funeral & Cremation Care

1358 Highway 51 N. @ Jackson St.

(608) 873-4590