When they went to live at Children’s Home Society in Sioux Falls (CHS), Vicky was just three, and her sister, Sharon, was 18 months old. Their mother was an alcoholic and she’d been in a bad car accident. The girls’ grandparents, who lived in Aberdeen, SD, were given custody—but they didn’t feel they could raise the two young children—so the girls were placed at CHS.

Their grandparents came to see the two girls every Sunday. The sisters remember Christmas programs, playing with dolls and truly feeling at home; they lived at CHS for three years.

One Sunday, their grandparents came to see them—but the girls weren’t there. They had been adopted—not through CHS, but through another social service agency—by Harry and Clara May Johnson from a ranch near Sturgis. Their names had been changed to Laura and Marcia. And in keeping with privacy practices of the time, their location was kept secret from their biological family.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

“Mother and Dad had never been able to have children,” she says. “They had a call one day, saying that there were two little girls available for adoption, but the request was that they be kept together.

And so they went from being childless to having these two little people that were very independent.”

The girls also had to adapt. “We had lived in a group setting for three years. Marcia and I have a bond that’s twin-like because we’ve always depended on each other. One time, I remember Marcia getting in trouble—and how upset I was with that. I thought, ‘How dare you discipline her?’ It took a lot of adjustment on both of our parts,” Laura says.

The girls started school; after Laura finished sixth grade, the school closed, and they were bussed into Sturgis.

“Marcia and I both were very active in 4-H, FHA, and any organization like that,” Laura says. “Mother and Dad were great about keeping us involved.

“We excelled in school, and in large part it was because of our background with CHS.”

In 1973, Laura was crowned South Dakota Junior Miss and was the second runner-up for the America’s Junior Miss title. This helped fund her college education, which was at Black Hills State. Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in education and later a master’s in administration.

She married Bill Johnson (her maiden name was also Johnson)and lives on his family’s third generation cattle ranch just 100 miles from where she grew up. Laura taught art and music in the Harding County Schools and is currently an Instruction Manager for an online company in Seattle, Washington, called Apex Learning. The couple has four adult children.

The plot thickens…

Laura and Marcia knew they were adopted but had very little detail. “Years later, Marcia’s son, Brian, was born with paralyzed vocal chords and Life Flighted to Denver,” Laura says.

“The doctors said they needed medical history. But we had no medical history. All we had were the legal adoption papers that had come with us.”

The sisters contacted the agency that had handled the adoption and insisted they needed information for medical histories. They ended up petitioning the court and finally received the files.

They found their family’s medical history in the files. But that wasn’t all. They also found letters written by their biological mother to the agency that had handled the adoption, along with letters from the girls’ biological grandfather. Sadly, the letters had not been forwarded, Today, of course, privacy practices have changed, and many adoptive families have relationships with their children’s biological families.

Eventually Laura and Marcia learned that their mother, grandmother, and an aunt had passed away.

The good news was that their grandfather was still alive in Aberdeen. The sisters decided to see him. “I think it was 29 years to the day that we left CHS—June 1—that we met our grandfather,” Laura says.

“We got to Aberdeen, and we had our hearts in our hands, because we didn’t know what to expect. And the social worker said, ‘I’m so sorry, there’s been a problem. Your grandfather has fallen and broken his hip. But the good news is, he’s in the hospital here. And your aunt is here, with him’.”

“So we went to the hospital, and we walked into this room, and this little man was lying in bed,” Laura says. “And he started crying, and he said, ‘My girls are home. My girls are home’.”

As they visited, their grandfather went on to explain what happened that day, 29 years earlier.

“Once again, they had come to see us on a Sunday. But we were gone. And it was worse than a death because they had no idea where we were, and they weren’t given any information.”

“And he had a really difficult time calling us anything but Sharon and Vicky,” says Laura.

The silver lining was that the sisters were able to establish a good relationship with their grandfather, and to find out more about their birth mother, what the circumstances were and why they went to CHS. Their grandfather was still very supportive of CHS and felt it was the best choice they could have made for the two little girls.

Completing the circle

As a teacher, Laura visited Sioux Falls on occasion for various meetings. “I had a colleague who said, ‘Come on, we’re going to visit CHS.’ So we went, this teacher and I, and toured it. I’m not going to lie. I still get emotional. It was difficult,” she says.

Laura’s children knew her story. Her oldest daughter, Robin, had a friend that was on the CHS Board. “Robin told her about me, and Robin told (former CEO) Bill Colson, ‘There’s someone you need to meet’.”

“So I went to CHS down in Rockerville to meet with Bill Colson, and I told our story. And then, later, I was invited to become a board member.”

“It’s a tremendous honor to even be asked to be on the Board, let alone to be moved into the Executive Board positions,” Laura says. She’s found that being on the Board has been rewarding and educational.

“It’s really been interesting to find out what goes into providing the services that CHS offers these children, that it’s not just a warm meal and a pillow at night,” she says.

“The staff are caring, educated individuals who are working hard to make this a good experience for these children, because it’s not just a place to live. It’s a home. They provide what kids need for discipline and support, and the hug when they need a hug, and reprimand when they need a reprimand.”

Laura continues, “Our society has changed, and to help children become productive, engaged individuals as they grow is a monumental task.”

Laura and Marcia have talked about CHS and how it feels to renew their ties to the organization. “To go back and see these kids in the same situation that we were in was so powerful. 

It was so surreal to place ourselves in that situation and see the children—and to realize that wow, this is us,” Laura says.

“Miranda Lambert wrote a song, ‘The House That Built Me.’ And CHS is the house that built us.”

Laura’s invitation to others

At the annual meeting of the CHS Board of Directors on September 30, Laura Johnson was elected President of the Board. She is the first Board President who lived at CHS, making it a special honor for both CHS and Laura. She urges people to learn about CHS, the important work being done and to consider becoming involved.

Donors and friends are greatly appreciated. “They have no idea how many children they’re reaching with their donations, not necessarily even today, but into the future. Everything that we’re doing at CHS is for the kids that we’re serving now, but also how can we better serve kids in the future, and families?”

Of course, this is personal for Laura. “We put all our trust in the people that were at Children’s Home. Obviously, our grandparents did, too. And they proved, time and time again, that trust was worthy,” she says.

“CHS is giving opportunities for the children of South Dakota to have a foundation—and the chance to lead full and productive lives.”