Retired Teacher Leaves Unexpected Gift to the Willa Cather Foundation

Ask Loren Johnson’s former students what he was like as a teacher and they won’t mince words—he was tough. But they also describe in the same breath Johnson’s kindness and compassion. In fact, Johnson cared so deeply about others that he rarely shared much about his own life and passions. It wasn’t until Johnson’s death in September 2023 at the age of 79 that former students Bryan Harman and Gred Pedroza learned that their best friend had quietly bequeathed his entire estate to three separate non-profit organizations, one of them being the Willa Cather Foundation.

“Loren spent life not calling attention to his own life. It wasn’t important to him that others knew what he was doing. He lived his life like this always. Self emptying; pouring himself onto everyone,” said Harman, a retired IT specialist with the University of Utah.

Johnson’s selfless final act didn’t surprise Harman and Pedroza, but what did come as a shock was the amount of money that was distributed on behalf of a retired school teacher. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University and a master’s degree from Westminster College. He spent his entire 35-year career at Kearns High School in Salt Lake City, Utah where he taught English and Advanced Placement courses.

“Every word I write, Loren is in my head,” said Pedroza, a retired theology professor. “He made all of us perform and develop at our best. There were at least a dozen former students at his memorial.”

Johnson’s impact on these two former students was so great that in their adulthood each developed a deep friendship with their toughest teacher. Literature may have been his first love, but travel came in a close second, and following the death of his spouse, Paul Larsen, Johnson took his friends with him across the United States and to Europe. 

“People loved Loren because Loren loved people. He knew how to maintain a connection with people around him. Always going to visit folks. Great listener and willing to give advice… if you asked for it.,” Harman said.

In his final days, Johnson, who battled Parkinson’s disease, was greeted by what Harman could only describe as a parade of love from friends, family, and former students.

“When they left, he told me how lovely it had been.” Pedroza said. “I didn’t know people cared that much for him. I’m not sure he experienced that himself. By the absence of it in his life, he knew it was important and worked hard to make sure others understood they were valued.” 

Neither Pedroza or Harman had heard of the Willa Cather Foundation prior to Johnson’s estate gift. While his obituary described the written word as his first love and that Willa Cather held a special place in his devotion, his former students did not remember reading a Cather novel in his classes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson recommended that Pedroza read Death Comes for the Archbishop, but that was the entirety of their Cather conversations.

Johnson’s membership with the Willa Cather Foundation began in 2004, following a trip to Red Cloud, Nebraska for the Willa Cather Spring Conference. And while he maintained a rather private affection for Cather–at least with these two dear friends–they agree that Johnson’s legacy gift to the Willa Cather Foundation aligns with his lifelong commitment to the arts and education.

“Something must have happened on that trip to Nebraska,” Harman said. “Something about the Foundation’s work resonated with him.” 

Johnson’s celebration of life was held on what would have been his 80th birthday, which also happened to be the 150th anniversary of Willa Cather's birth.

If you would like additional information about planned giving and the Cather Legacy Society, or if you have named the Willa Cather Foundation as a beneficiary in your estate plans, please contact Jeniffer Beahm, Development Coordinator, at jbeahm@willacather.org.