Reiff Funeral Home

This past weekend at the age of 60 and surrounded by family at his home, Ned passed away after a battle with cancer.He was born on Oct. 14, 1957 in Independence, the son of George A. and Dorothy M. (Schamp) Johnson. Ned attended the Independence School District and worked for several years at Bill & Don’s Phillips 66 Gas Station in Independence, Temeyer Farms, and did construction for several years.On July 9, 1976 Ned married his high school sweet heart, Pamela Sue Stevens, in Independence, and later attended Hawkeye Community College to receive a degree in Civil Engineering. In 1988 he started working for the Buchanan County Secondary Roads Department as an Assistant to the County Engineer, Brian Keierleber.“During Ned’s time here we completed many outstanding projects such as the Fontana Park Bridge, The Otterville Wapsipinicon River Bridge, the Nolen Avenue River Bridge, and the Roundabout [south of Fairbank],” said Keierleber. “Ned had an outstanding reputation with the contractors, he was excellent in dealing with them. He treated everyone equally to assure that we got the best production from everyone. He will be missed by all those that he worked with, fellow employees and contractors alike.”Many of those bridges will be part of a special event in June, the Local Agency Bridge Innovation Days, where up to 75 engineers from the Midwest will visit Independence and learn about the innovative materials and techniques used by the Ned and the county bridge crews have used over the years.At his retirement party in January, Ned said the biggest change over years was technology, but not just the materials.“What we used to do by hand is now done by computer,” he said about the engineering computations.In retirement he hoped to spend time outdoors; he loved to fish and hunt. He built a cabin in Harpers Ferry to spend time with his family and friends.Ned is survived by his wife of forty-two years, Pamela, Winthrop; his children: Cory (Kayla) Johnson, Aurora, Heidi Johnson, Dubuque, Joe (KC Courtney) Johnson, Winthrop, and Cassa... (2018 - Cedar Valley Daily Times)