Edith "Edie" Johansen passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of February 26, 2015.  This was a culmination of a long and hard fight with Alzheimer's Disease.

Edie began her life in Brooklyn, NY, on St. Patrick's Day, 1922, born to Albert and Lillian Magelof.  She and her family lived among a large and devoted extended family.  Jewish by heritage and by faith, she was of Russian and Austrian descent. She finished high school and began her working career just before WW II.

Edie met her future husband one night at a dance at the Norwegian Seaman's Hall.  After a rapid courtship, sometimes long distance, and including Arne's pursuit of US citizenship, they married on December 12, 1945.  Their first child, Rachel, died in infancy in 1946.  Their second child, Kenneth, was born in Brooklyn in 1948.

Then came a move from New York to Tulsa, where her sister, Bernice, and husband, Ben, resided.  While it was a difficult transition in culture, they both came to love Tulsa and become very involved.  In 1954, the next child, Jamie, was born.

Edie was a devoted wife and mother, always making sure that her sons were provided for, physically and emotionally.  She taught her children to work hard and to always do the right thing.  Both Edie and Arne were involved in Boy Scouts with their sons, and later became very active in Norwegian folk dancing and square dancing.  She and Arne also loved to travel, which she continued with friends throughout her life. Edie volunteered for almost 20 years with the Hillcrest Auxiliary, a job she took seriously.  For several years she volunteered at an elementary school, reading to the children.

She is predeceased by: her husband, Arne; her parents, Lillian Federbush and Albert Magelof; and her brother Sidney Magelof.  She is survived by: her sister and brother-in-law, Bernice and Ben Fizer; sons, Kenneth (and wife Laurie) and Jamie (and wife Linda); grandchildren, Andrew and Benjamin, Michael and Rachel; and great grandchildren, Emma, Carter and Shepherd.

Services will be held at Temple Israel on Wednesday, March 4, at 1:30 p.m., with graveside services to follow at Rose Hill Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice Plus, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, or any Alzheimer's research organization.

Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel 918-585-1151