Dr. Rodney Johnson

May 28, 2014 — 

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Dr. Rodney Johnson, age 70, of Alexandria, MN. Dr. Johnson suffered a stroke on Sunday and died Thursday, May 22, 2014. His obituary was still pending at the time of this writing and can be viewed at the Alexandria Funeral Home website. Service and visitation information is listed below.

Dr. Johnson received his DVM from the University of Minnesota in 1970, joining the American Association of Swine Practitioners in 1973. He was active in the AASP/V and served as the AASP President in 1985. He was named Swine Practitioner of the Year in 1982 and was the 2009 recipient of the AASV Meritorious Service Award. He presented the Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture at the 1995 AASP Annual Meeting. He completed the University of Illinois’ Executive Veterinary Program in 1995. Following years in private practice, he recently retired from the AVMA-PLIT having served as CEO.

Dr. Johnson was generous with both his time and resources. He was a longtime active supporter of the AASV Foundation, serving on the AASV Foundation Board from 2002 - 2008, and as president of the Foundation in 2008. Dr. Johnson contributed to the Foundation as a Leman Fellow and Heritage Fellow. He and his wife Jean routinely donated items for the annual Foundation Auction, actively participated in the bidding and encouraged others to do the same.

As Foundation president, became a driving force behind the recent, very successful AASV Foundation fundraising auctions. In 2008, he set the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” of raising $50,000. This goal was certainly audacious, as no previous AASVF auction had approached even $20,000 in proceeds. Nevertheless, his expectations were met as AASV members surpassed the goal by raising more than $70,000 at the 2008 Auction. Subsequent auctions repeated this success, as Rod continued to serve on the AASVF Auction Committee through the 2014 Annual Meeting.

His kindness, leadership and participation will be missed.

Service:
11 AM Thursday, May 29, 2014 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria. Interment will be at 1 PM Friday in the Falun Cemetery near Roseau.

Visitation:
9 to 11 AM Thursday at church. Memorials preferred to Calvary Church, American Assoc. of Swine Veterinarian Foundation, MN Veterinary Medical Foundation or the Lymphoma Society.