Dennis Johnston, 77, of Montezuma  passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 19, 2021 in a home he helped build on property his family had owned his entire life. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 beginning at 10:30 am at the Montezuma United Methodist Church in Montezuma.  Visitation will be held on Monday, August 23, beginning at noon with the family present from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Montezuma United Methodist Church.  Burial will be held in the Jackson Township Cemetery at Montezuma.  Memorials may be directed to the Montezuma Volunteer Fire Department, the Blakley-Stevens American Legion Post 169 or the Poweshiek County Masonic Lodge.  Holland-Coble Funeral Home of Montezuma is in charge of arrangements.

Dennis Lee Johnston, son of Emmett and Mary Phyllis (Wilson) Johnston was born on September 16, 1943 at Montezuma, Iowa.  He graduated from Montezuma High School in 1961.  Denny attended the State College of Iowa (UNI) for one year before transferring to Ottumwa Tech (Indiana Hills) graduating with an electronics degree.  Denny married Sally McClain on November 6, 1965 at the Deep River Methodist Church and to this union two children were born, Michael and Wendy.  He spent six months of active duty in the Army National Guard at Fort Knox in Kentucky.  Following his honorable discharge in 1965, they moved to Burlington where he worked for National Cash Register (NCR) in sales.  In 1968, they moved to Mineral Wells, Texas where he worked for Electra-Midland for a short time before moving back to Montezuma buying part of Frank Bryan's Electronics and Appliance Store.  They sold this business and Denny began working at Montezuma Manufacturing where he was a shift supervisor before working his way up to the corporate office.  In 1990, Denny began working for General Machine Tool (GMT) in Waverly in sales covering ten states, building strong relationships and friendships.  He semi- retired in 2001 and kept busy selling grain bins, working for Poe Construction and working at Montezuma Community School.

Denny loved his family and never missed any activity they were involved in while growing up.  He loved going for rides around town, golf, fishing trips,  racing stock cars, making horseradish with his friends, and yard work.  He was a great salesman and friend.

Denny was a member of the Montezuma United Methodist Church for over 50 years, a 50 year member of Poweshiek Lodge No. 174, Kaaba Shrine, 48 year member of the Montezuma Volunteer Fire Department, the Blakely-Stevens American Legion Post 169 and the Montezuma Country Club.

Denny  is survived by his wife, Sally Johnston of Montezuma; his children, Michael (Brenda) Johnston of Montezuma, Wendy (Mike) Geiger of Deep River; his grandchildren, Connor (Mattie Dillon) Johnston, Colleen Johnston, Tyler (Kenadie) Geiger, Tessa (Cole Watts) Geiger and Tod Geiger; his sister, Diana (Dan) Dawley of Montezuma, nieces and nephews, Jon (Laurie) Dawley, Jennifer (Pat) Lacy, Robin (John) Mann, Heidi (Dan) Thompson, Paula Henkle, and many other relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Emmett and Mary Johnston, in-laws, Wendell and Helen McClain; sister-in-law, Sue (Roger) Henkle; nephew, Rande Henkle and special friends, Earl and Joy White and Dennis Watts.