John W. Lofton

Funeral services for John Lofton of Warroad, MN will be held on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 2:00 PM at Helgeson Funeral Home in Roseau.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service; with interment at Hope Cemetery in Roseau.  Non-vaccinated individuals are encouraged to wear face coverings.  In lieu of flowers, the family encourages to use the "Plant a Tree" program (on this site) in memory of John.

John passed over on July 19, 2021, while in the caring hands of his medical team in Fargo, ND with family by his side. 

John William Lofton was born November 16, 1942, in Alton, IL. At two years old, he moved with his parents, Lela and Raymond Lofton, to Wannaska where the family farmed while Lela worked as an RN and later an anesthetist. John worked hard at an early age helping tend to field crops, farm animals, and the garden. He told stories over the years of his mother making use of every part of an animal as a way of farm life. In eighth grade, John shifted from attending school in Wannaska to the ag school in Crookston, a six month school option, as many local farm families did with their sons during this era. It allowed the boys to stay later on the farm for fall harvest and be home full time in the spring for planting. 
  
John and Sharon Geroy were married June 30, 1962, and John went on to receive an agriculture economics degree from the University of Minnesota in 1969. They moved back to the farm and John started his professional career with a few years in extension service, then manager of Northrup King in Roseau, and finally manager of Marvin elevator in Warroad after the sale of Northrup King.  John loved the area, and he and the family continued to farm while he worked at the elevator.  They moved to Warroad in 1988 and sold the family farm. After retiring in the early 2000’s, John and Sharon spent their retirement winters in Yuma, AZ, where they met up with friends from home as well as meeting some wonderful new ones. Their place was the social hub for their gang, enjoying late afternoon happy hours together, playing cards, and sharing lots of jovial comradery.  

John will be remembered as someone that never met a person he didn't want to get to know. He enjoyed talking with anyone that crossed his path; status or capability had no bearing on his easy, friendly, joking style that made each person feel welcomed. He loved deer hunting, always filling the tags in Section 8, and fishing with the boat he kept at the dock behind his house on the Warroad river.  In Warroad he met several people who would become irreplaceable fishing buddies and friends. We know if John were here he would want us to thank each and every one of his friends, from the ones from childhood to the latest in Yuma, for the love and laughs that fill the heart when being together. 

John is survived by his wife, Sharon, children Jill (Randy Olson) Pederson, Jana (John Etzell) Lofton-Etzell, Kirk Lofton, and Jane (Brett) Mattson, mother-in-law Margaret Geroy, brother-in-law Roger (Sharon) Geroy, and grandchildren Molly Pederson, Seth Pederson, Anders Mattson, and Helena Mattson, along with many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Raymond and Lela (Mowen) Lofton, aunt Cora “Auntie” Lofton and beloved brother, Charlie Lofton.   

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