Mary Louise Johnson

Mary Louise Johnson, age 93, of Escanaba passed away Saturday, July 27, 2024 at Bishop Noa Home in Escanaba. She was born December 5, 1930 in Kipling, MI and was the daughter of Lawrence and Mary (Beck) Smith. Mary grew up in Kipling, attended school in Gladstone and attended All Saints Catholic Church. The former Mary Louise Smith married Henry Lippens in 1949 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Perkins. Together they raised five children on the Lippens Family Farm. In 1968 they sold the farm and purchased the Sunset Motel in Wells.  Mary Louise married Marcus Johnson in Ladysmith, WI and together they ran the Motel 8 in Ladysmith, WI. They later moved to Escanaba and purchased the Delta Inn Motel and the Sunset Motel.  Marcus passed away in 1994. Mary loved gardening and flowers.

Mary is survived by daughter Rose (Cliff) Doyen of Cornell; grandchildren Lorri (Gene) Merrell, Eric Shade, Dan (Theresa) Doyen, Julie Doyen (David Greenfield), Hannaha Lippens, Jesseca Cousineau, and Luke Cousineau; great grandchildren Tosha (Jeremy) Mason, Anthony Doyen, Vince Doyen, Anna Merrell, Travis Greenfield, Rosalie Lippens, Marie Lippens and Haleigh Lippens; great great grandchildren Sailor, Presley, Gunner, Fallon and Granger Mason; sister Tess (Larry) Boyer of Minneapolis, MN and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husbands she was preceded in death by children Linda Grenfell, Paul Lippens, Patrick Lippens and Diane Lippens; brother David “Sonny” Smith and sisters Helen Sundling and Rosalie Keen.

Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thursday, August 1, 2024 at the Anderson Funeral Home in Escanaba. Funeral services celebrating the life of Mary Louise Johnson will be held at 4:00 p.m., Thursday at the Anderson Funeral Home Chapel with Father Fran DeGroot officiating.  Burial will take place in the Gardens of Rest Cemetery.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Louise Johnson, please visit our floral store.