Established on 8.24.2021 by Eric P. Johnson ’82 and friends and family of Kirsten Anne Montgomery Johnson ’87
Kirsten Anne Montgomery Johnson passed away at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, on July 10, 2021 on her way home from vacation after a four-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
An intrepid traveler and marathon runner with huge reserves of inner strength, Kirsten never let her cancer keep her down or define her. Indeed, she continued to display her deep faith, commitment to her family and friends, her love of teaching and serving youth in her schools and church to the very last days of her life. She was a small person with a mighty spirit.
Born in 1965 in Waterloo, IA, Kirsten and her family lived in a variety of places following her father’s vocation as a Lutheran pastor. After years in Sioux Falls and Staten Island, Kirsten graduated from Cooper High School, New Hope, MN, in 1983. Kirsten next attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, where she majored in communications. After graduation in 1987, Kirsten moved to California with a college friend where she found her way into her true vocation of elementary school teaching. Obtaining her teaching credentials at Northeastern University in Boston, Kirsten taught in a variety of school districts including a Lutheran elementary school in Los Angeles and public schools in the Boston area, Spring Lake Park, Barnesville and Moorhead, MN. Central to her teaching success was her ability to connect on a personal level with students making each one feel special.
It was while she was teaching in Boston that Kirsten met her future husband Eric who was stationed at a nearby Connecticut naval base. Their serendipitous meeting is rich in the wonder of how God is active in unexpected ways. In 1993, Kirsten and Eric were married in St. Paul, MN, where they had relocated and began their life together.
This scholarship was established by Kirsten’s parents, Arthur and Barbara Montgomery, sister and brother-in-law Kara (Montgomery) and David Johnson, brother Kevin Montgomery, husband Eric and children Berit, Noah and Signe Johnson along with hundreds of other donors who made gifts to honor Kirsten’s memory and to spread Kirsten’s legacy in the world. All have joined together to declare, “There will be light!”
The purpose of this endowed scholarship is to honor the life of Kirsten Johnson and to provide educational support and encouragement to young men and women who desire a Concordia education.
The Kirsten Anne Montgomery Johnson ’87 Endowed Scholarship is awarded to one or more students of any class majoring in education, with preference given to students majoring in elementary education. Further preference will be given to students graduating from Moorhead High School in Moorhead, MN.