Kim and Greg Johnson continue their late daughter’s mission through the Rosary
By Rachel Kettner | For On Mission
Photography by Scott Eastman
FREEDOM — When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the nation in 2020, forcing schools to close temporarily, school nurse Kim Johnson turned to the Rosary for strength and stability.
Little did she know how her own life would soon be shaken.
Catherine (Cathy) Johnson, the daughter of Kim and Greg Johnson, fell in love with the mountains of Montana while participating in the National Student Exchange program through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She attended Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, for a year through the exchange program, and then decided she wanted to transfer there to complete her college degree.
“She loved hiking, loved being outside, loved meeting new people and exploring new places,” Greg said. “That’s how she ended up (in Montana). She actually wanted to move out there and get her residency to help with tuition.”
One of the things Cathy loved to do in Montana was ski.
On February 16, 2021, the Johnsons heard a knock on the door from the sheriff, who brought devastating news: Cathy had been in a skiing accident and never made it off the mountain.
“She did everything right,” Greg said. “She went with a group of friends. It was mid-February, so they still had quite a bit of snow out there, and the snow was soft. From the best we can tell, she lost her footing, and she fell in what they call a tree well. They get a lot of snow out there, and it creates a void underneath the tree. And we think she fell in that, and then the snow comes down on her, and essentially, they can’t get out. They couldn’t find her soon enough. They did everything, but we lost her.”
After the initial shock and denial, the whole family, including Cathy’s four surviving siblings, was overcome by sheer grief.
“Nothing makes sense at the time,” Kim said. “Sometimes it’s hard to even put a sentence together. Your physical body is here, but you’re not in that body anymore. From my standpoint, the first two years — I have pictures of things I remember — but I don’t truly remember anything in particular. It lasts a few years.”
They turned to their faith to try to make sense of what had happened and begin the process of healing.
“From the Church’s standpoint, you keep hearing that you’re supposed to be happy,” Greg said. “You should be happy, your daughter is with God. She’s in a kingdom that’s better than anything that’s here, in the loving arms of Jesus. Now, I can appreciate that, but in my ignorance, at first, you’re angry. Then you feel like you failed in your faith because you kind of fight back.”
Talking with their parish deacon, Deacon Gary Vanness at St. Nicholas Parish in Freedom, brought them great comfort.
“Deacon Gary was amazing,” Kim said. “He just listened. Fr. Walter (Stumpf), too. But for me, I keep saying I probably wouldn’t be here without the Rosary. You can’t think straight, but you can hold it, and then you can say a few prayers, and you can get lost, and that’s OK. And then you can start again and say more prayers.”
As Kim worked through the initial grieving process, she deepened her dedication and understanding of the Rosary, a practice she started in 2020 after being sent home from her job as a school nurse during the pandemic.
She decided to make rosaries as a way of supporting Cathy’s friends as they continued on their life journeys.
“Her friends were starting to get married, and I didn’t have anything of Cathy’s to give them,” she said. “Pictures, obviously, but I just thought, I’ll make a bridal (rosary) set. And they received it very well, so then I made a few more rosaries, and it just kind of bloomed out of giving that first bridal set away.”
With Greg’s support, Kim began attending craft shows and selling her rosaries under the name Cathy’s Cross, in honor of their daughter.
“I don’t remember how I set up a shop,” Kim said. “There’s trauma with grief like this. Some things are really foggy. I think I started selling online, but then we found some craft shows. The very first craft shows that we did, they were pretty difficult, but people let us cry and talk. And then it gets a little easier.”
As her devotion to the Rosary grew, so did her collection of beads and materials, allowing her to use her creativity to produce beautiful rosaries for special occasions, such as weddings and first Communions, or for those in need of something to hold on to after their world is turned upside down.
“We tell them it’s a way for you to surrender all your grief, everything,” Greg said. “There’s a plan, just trust in it. You don’t have to know it right now. Just take this moment to pause and say, ‘I’m surrendering myself to you, and help me get through this day.’ And then the next day, and then the next day. Eventually, you find a reason and a path forward, you start to understand a little bit, you’re OK. Maybe someday I’ll be able to help somebody else. That’s what Cathy would have wanted, and that’s what we learned through our faith.”
I KEEP SAYING
I PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT
THE ROSARY.
For Kim and Greg, making and sharing the rosaries provides healing in several ways. They get to spread their devotion to Mary — teaching others to pray — and they get to keep Cathy’s name and message alive and share it with those who need to hear it.
“That joy she brought to us, that’s what we share at all these craft shows and through the rosaries,” Greg said. “I see a lot of young girls that look like her and act like her, and I get to share her message. Cathy’s favorite thing was ‘work less, hike more.’ Don’t take anything for granted.”
Now, four years later, Cathy’s absence is still felt every day, but Kim and Greg, as well as their other children, have found some peace and acceptance.
“Cathy bloomed when she went out to Montana,” Kim said. “It just fit her so well, and she was so happy, and she was truly doing things that she really wanted to do. She wasn’t reckless. She was very safe. She loved what she was doing. It was just a freak accident.”
“Now looking back, I think it all had a purpose,” Greg said. “But you can’t understand that at the time. Cathy was truly unique, and I think this was her. She was beyond us, and I think this was her way of impacting more people than (Kim) and I were ever going to.”
The Johnson family hopes to continue to carry Cathy’s Cross wherever they go, sharing Cathy’s message of love and the Rosary’s message of surrender.