Page 10 Monticello Riverfest • Thursday, July 2, 2026
Johnsons /
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For transforming a deeply personal tragedy into a local force for good, the Johnsons have been named Monticello’ s 2026 Citizens of the Year.
“ This was a mission of the heart for us to give back to the community,” Teri said.“ So then to have it come back to us is a sobering honor.”
This summer, as Teri recuperates from a recent knee replacement surgery, they’ ll celebrate the accolade while also preparing to welcome another milestone— their first grandchild.
“ Family is life’ s greatest blessing,” Teri said.
Spend a few minutes with the Johnsons and it quickly becomes clear why friends describe them as a team. They laugh easily, finish each other’ s thoughts and instinctively fill in details the other has forgotten.
Throughout a nearly threehour conversation at Ellison Park, just steps from one of the outdoor AEDs they were instrumental in installing, they repeatedly redirected credit to others— parents, teachers, first responders, volunteers and the Heart Strong advisory board.
Even while discussing the Citizen of the Year award, they seemed far more comfortable talking about the people who helped shape their lives than about themselves.
Still, asked what he admires most about his wife, Jim didn’ t hesitate.
“ You can’ t be married to someone for over 41 years if they’ re not your best friend,” he said.“ She is this caring, loving person who is all about giving back. It makes me a better person because I’ m with her.”
Teri took a moment to consider how to describe her husband.
“ Jim is a man of integrity,” she said.“ He bases his life on foundational values, and therefore he is trustworthy. He wants to leave a place better than when he came.” Those values long predated
Heart Strong.
Both credit their families with teaching them that serving others wasn’ t extraordinary— it was simply what good neighbors did.
Teri remembers her father serving on the Dassel-Cokato School Board for more than 25 years, and both of her parents were once named Citizens of the Year in their hometown.
“ In my family, it was very much about community service and helping out,” she said.
Jim’ s parents instilled many of the same values.
“ You have to give back when you have this opportunity,” he said.“ You have to give back.”
Those lessons naturally led both into education.
Jim has spent over 35 years in public education, beginning as a history teacher before becoming a principal, superintendent and later an instructor preparing future school leaders through Minnesota State University Moorhead. He served as superintendent of Monticello Public Schools for 13 years before retiring in 2025 and continues to teach future administrators part time through MSU Moorhead.
For him, education was never just about academics.
“ Parents hand those kids over to you, the most precious thing in their life,” Jim said.“ They hand them over to you for a small period of time.”
Nothing captured that privilege and responsibility more than graduation.
“ The highlight is standing on stage on graduation night and watching that class march in,” he said.“ You had a piece of creating the conditions that helped those kids get to that point.” monticellotimes. com
LAUREN FLAUM / MONTICELLO TIMES
Jim and Teri Johnson pose June 24 beside a SaveStation housing a public-access automated external defibrillator( AED) at Ellison Park along the Mississippi River in Monticello. Through their nonprofit Heart Strong Monticello, the couple helped fund and bring the lifesaving device to the park as part of a communitywide effort to expand public access to AEDs and earn Heart Safe Community designation.
“ It isn’ t about what you get from it,” he continued.“ It’ s about what they get from it.”
Even after decades in education, graduation never lost its meaning.
“ It’ s the best it ever gets in that profession,” he said.“ Watching that, there is nothing better.”
One of the guiding principles throughout his years in Monticello was“ Every Kid Every Day.” Looking back, the connection between that philosophy and Heart Strong seems almost inevitable. Just as Jim once talked about creating the conditions for every student to succeed, today he talks about creating the conditions that give someone else the chance to survive.
Teri also began her career as a teacher before stepping away to raise the couple’ s four children. She later returned to education, spending more than two decades in the St. Michael-Albertville School District’ s Teaching and Learning Department, where she supported teachers and helped improve instruction across the district.
Though their careers followed different paths, both were driven by the same belief: investing in people matters.
Retirement promised more time for travel, hiking and enjoying life together. Just eight days before Jim’ s cardiac arrest, they had spent an autumn day hiking at Taylors Falls.
Neither had any reason to believe their lives were about to change forever.
The day everything changed
On a Sunday afternoon in October 2022, the couple was watching the Vikings, eating lunch and talking in the basement of their home when Jim