Marvin Lloyd Johnson was born October 14th, 1920 in Hythe, AB. As a young man he attended the West Hythe School. He joined the Army on April 9th, 1942 and served in World War II, he was a truck driver with communications equipment for the R.C.O.C. (Royal Canadian Corps of Signals) in the “4 Telleop Section” in England, France, Belgium and Holland. He was diagnosed with diphtheria in January of 1945. He the rejoined his unit hauling equipment to Holland; he was back to Hythe on leave on October 15th, 1945 and discharged on November 17th, 1945. When he was discharged he returned to Hythe and met his partner, Mabel. They went on to have seven children. Marvin homesteaded a half-section north of Valhalla Centre where he and Mabel lived and farmed for 70 years. He supplemented his farm income by working in the bush at sawmills, custom sawing logs with his own sawmill, and falling trees during winter logging. He was a trapper, hunter and fisherman his whole life and loved the outdoors. He was also very active in sports, with one mention of him on the LaGlace baseball team, a game his father Hilmer also loved, of 1946 (picture in “LaGlace”, p. 55). He passed away in Hythe, AB on January 24th, 2017 at 96 years old and is buried in the Valhalla Centre Cemetery.
- Grande Prairie Daily Hearld Tribune/Beaverlodge , obituary/death notice (date unknown)
- Listed as a Valhalla War Veteran in “Pioneer Round-Up”, 1972, p.748
- La Glace, 1981, published by The Twilight Club History Book Committee, p. 55
- Pioneers of the Peace, 1975, published by Grande Prairie and District Old Timers’ Association, p. 321