Obituary of Verlie Torell

Verlie Torell was born to Ivy and Herman Torell at their home in Cambridge on March 28, 1920. After 87 years of quiet living, she passed away very peacefully at Grandview Christian Home on June 16, 2007. She lived the past 17 years at the Grandview Home which was built near her home birth place in Cambridge. Her older sister, Margaret Johnson, also resides at Grandview and her younger brother, Wesley, lives in Orlando, Florida. Another younger sister, Ardelle, was killed in a truck accident in 1959. Verlie loved Jesus and joined the First Baptist Church in Cambridge at an early age and was involved with the youth programs. Like many children who grew up during the Great Depression, she survived with the love of God, church and family. She also completed her Cambridge Normal School classes during those years. Verlie lived at home with her parents in and around Cambridge until World War II broke out in 1941. She then lived with and helped her older married sister, Margaret, and husband, Army Captain Russell W. Johnson, in many different cities until after the War. Verlie was a loving part of that family for almost fifty years as Russell taught at Bethel College and raised three children in the St. Paul area. Russell, Margaret and Verlie then moved back to rural Cambridge in 1972 to their hometown. After some physical concerns with Verlie and a medical referral, she became a resident at Grandview Christian Home in 1990. She is survived by nephew, Stephen [and Marie] Johnson of Tuolumne, CA, nephew Daniel (and Sherri) Johnson of Cambridge, MN, and niece, Cindi (and Bob) Urlie of Bethel, MN, and multiple great-nephews and great-nieces. Brother-in-law Russell W. Johnson passed away in June, 2002.