Some people get cards or a cake for their birthday, but Beverly Johnson gets to ride in the Farm-City Days parade. Beverly and Bob Johnson are city grand marshals of the parade on Saturday, which happens to be Beverly’s 70th birthday.
Bob and Beverly grew up in Humboldt and have been married for nearly 48 years. They had their first date in 1957, when they were 14 and freshmen in high school.
“He called and asked me to go to a party with him down at the park,” Beverly said. “We played spin the bottle.”
Beverly went to beauty school in Kansas City and worked in Iola and Chanute. After having their two children, Brenda and Bob, she decided to be a stay-at-home mother.
“I wanted to stay at home with them because that was important to me,” she said.
Brenda lives in Roswell, N.M., with her husband Sean and their two children, Hudson, 16, and Olivia, 14.
Their son Bob lives in Humboldt with his wife Melanie and children Noah, 14, Emma, 11, Alayna, 11, and Maddox, 9.
Their grandchildren keep them very busy.
“We go and see all of their sporting events,” Beverly said.
She said she has always liked to work with kids. She was a paraprofessional for many years at McKinley and Jefferson elementary schools and helped set up a Bible study group for “tweens.”
“We started the Bible study in Humboldt last year,” she said. “We teach them about friendship and the Lord.”
The study group is now working on Christmas shoeboxes and they want to help a child in Humboldt for the Christmas season.
She recently started line dancing for exercise and enjoys helping at her church.
BOB IS in his 50th year at the Iola Register.
