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John Lehenbauer posted a condolence
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Dear Marilu, Vernon III, Bettina and Family,
You are in our prayers following the death of your husband and Dad. Vern was truly one of the most wonderful Christian men I have known. He has left a legacy in the lives of countless individuals, athletes, and myself.
I remember Vern for his ethic of hard work in his construction vocation, his mild manners, and his faith in Christ as his Savior. He was a blessing to many as a running coach, I am certain.
Hebrews12:1-2 says "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith."
Vern has run many road races in life with great endurance. Now he has crossed the finish line of earthly life and obtained the crown of eternal life, by grace, through faith in Jesus. May the Lord be with each of you in the days ahead. It has been a few years since we have seen any of you in person, but all of you were influential in our lives.
-Pastor John and Renee Lehenbauer
Kathleen, Georgia
johnlehenbauer@gmail.com
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Jeff Svedahl uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, December 31, 2022
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Vern had more of an impact on my life than any person other than my parents. He was a great guy and an even better coach. When he first met me as my track coach I was in the ninth grade. It was a time in my life where I was about as low as a person can get. I was also the slowest runner on the team. My ability didn’t seem to matter to Vern, and he treated me the same as everyone else. He was kind, respectful, funny, supportive and always ready to listen. The way he treated me literally changed my life in such a positive way that’s it’s very hard to describe in words. I never really thought of it in this way until now, but he was like a guardian angel in my life. It’s hard for me to imagine where I would be now had it not been for him. There is no way to thank him for what he did for me other than try to live in a similar way and treat people the way he treated me. He will be greatly missed, but for the people that he had such an impact on, his memory will live with us forever as we try to emulate the kindness and understanding he showed us.
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Danielle Davis posted a condolence
Friday, December 30, 2022
Vern was truly a one in a million person. He was a great coach, phenomenal mentor, and wonderful friend. I will never forget the many, many life lessons shared and discussed over many runs, even well past the time when I was running on his team. Vern had a special way of connecting with those around him and he truly cared about every aspect of their lives. Vern will be forever missed and never forgotten. Hugs and love to his family, Danielle Davis
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Ryan Davis posted a condolence
Friday, December 30, 2022
I first met Vern when I was in 7th grade. I wanted to try running for the 7th-8th grade track team at Carlton and a friend convinced me to train with the varsity track team because their season started 2 weeks earlier and we figured we could get ahead of our competition. Vern was the varsity distance coach and ran with a small group of boys the first day and I had no clue how far we were going to run, I was hoping a mile or two. We had already gone further then I wanted when he said “girls can head back now and boys can keep going”…well, looking around their were no females in our small group. Not yet understanding Vern’s humor, I refused to turn around and became increasingly upset as I slowly realized how far away from school we were and trudged in to finish the 8 mile run the first day of practice, by far the longest I had ever ran. I felt like I barely the survived the first two weeks of practice, and was so excited to leave the varsity and join the 7th and 8th grade team as their season began. Vern found me with the 7th and 8th grade team on their first day and told me to stick it out with him and the varsity team and told me I could become a special runner if I wanted it and if I would give him a chance. I don’t know what he saw in me to believe in me like that after only two weeks, but I stuck with him for the season and it changed my entire life.
Vern helped me achieve every personal goal in distance running I could have imagined, with many years of section championships and state appearances…but now with that over 20 years behind me since graduating high school, I remember less of the personal accomplishments, and remember more fondly the friendships and time spent together. Vern and I would run together year round, often with long Saturday morning runs of 20+ miles to finish our weeks of 80-100 miles. We had a lot of time to talk, and man did Vern have stories! I knew how much he really loved God, his children and his wife.
We had so much fun training with the team, we would work as hard as anybody and would have as much fun as anybody. One of Vern’s nicknames was Captain Squid…I’m not sure why…. He just had the ability to be silly and child-like with the team all while helping us achieve our best. It wasn’t just due to hard work and luck that Vern’s runners succeed, Vern was no joke a genius with his cutting edge scientific knowledge with anything to do with training and spent countless hours reading, studying and even doing his own hands on research. Vern ran every workout with us, and only now at my age can I can begin to truly appreciate how amazing that was after he was working construction building homes every day. Vern purchased a life-time Grandmas marathon participant pass, which was only offered during the infant stages of Grandma’s marathon and he ran many amazing marathons. I would like to think one small Grandmas highlight for him was one year, when I was in my prime, I went out too hard and Vern was able to catch me at lemon drop hill and he jokingly gave me a tug on the back of my shirt as he passed me going up the hill and he never looked back.
Vern hired me to work for him at Northern Timberland Builders right after high school and it helped me pay my way through college.
I learned so many valuable lessons and values from Vern and I think about him every week.
I know that so much of what I have today is because of Vern and his values and influences have guided so many of my life decisions. I now have an amazing job in home construction. I fell in love with Danielle who I ran with on the track and cross country teams at Carlton High School and we have now been married almost 15 years and have 5 amazing children together. Hours prior to hearing about Vern’s passing, my oldest boy asked me if I would ever be interested in being his cross county coach when he is old enough to join the team next year. I believe a coach can be such an amazing influence on a young kid and Vern was the best. I would love to be a coach some day like Vern and I hope I could be so lucky to help someone even a fraction of how Vern helped me.
Vern will be missed so much, I can’t put words to it. He was such an amazing person, a one-of-a-kind. I wish him and his family peace. I know I will always think about him and I just wish I could say thank you, for everything.
-Ryan Davis
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Annette & Gerry posted a condolence
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Marilu & Family, our deepest sympathy and prayers are with you.
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Claudia Herrera posted a condolence
Thursday, December 29, 2022
I am very sorry to hear of Vern's passing. I know he will be greatly missed by his loving family and this is a great loss to you all. The times I met Vern I could see what a kind and caring man he was. My heart and prayers go out to you Marilu and family.
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Debra Spitzley posted a condolence
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
So very sorry to hear about the passing of Vern. He was a very quiet man and always had a smile whenI seen him. Prayers to you Marilu and your family.
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The family of Vernon Robert Johnsen, Jr. uploaded a photo
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
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