Roger A. Johansen

Roger A. Johansen, 75, of South Sioux City, passed away Tuesday, April 30, 2019.  Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M. Friday, May 3, 2019 at First Lutheran Church, South Sioux City.  Visitation will be Thursday, May 2, 2019 from 4 to 8 P.M. with family present from 6 to 8 P.M. with a prayer service at 7 P.M. at Becker-Hunt Funeral Home.  Burial will be at Dakota City Cemetery.

Roger was born the son of Stanley and Jo (Wade) Johansen on March 28, 1944 in Sioux City, Iowa.  He graduated from South Sioux City High School in 1962 and attended the University of South Dakota.  Roger married Cheryl Dawn Shanks on August 21, 1964 in South Sioux City. 

Roger joined the South Sioux City Police Department as a patrolman in 1967. Roger’s leadership was instrumental in shaping the modern era of policing in South Sioux City. He was the first police officer in South Sioux City to have attended college, he started the Officer Bill youth outreach program in the 1970s, created South Sioux City’s first photography lab for crime scene analysis, deployed new technologies such as radar speed enforcement and gas chromatography for blood alcohol analysis. Roger’s leadership established the South Sioux City Policemen’s Association in 1973, the city’s first professional police officers’ union. He served as its first president. Roger retired from the police department in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant.

He enjoyed woodworking, fishing, and target shooting with his family.

Roger is survived by his wife, Cheryl Johansen of South Sioux City; a daughter, Laura (Rodney) Warnock of South Sioux City and their children, Katelyn (Cory) Birch of Sioux City and Nathan (Georgie) Warnock of North Sioux City; son, Jonathan (Susan) Johansen of Oro Valley, Arizona; and son, Jason (Lynn Kuehl) Johansen of Ponca, Nebraska and his children, Josephine (Franklin Freerking) Johansen and Jessica Johansen all of Sioux City; great-granddaughter, Mercy Freerking of Sioux City; brother, Conrad (Linda) Johansen of South Sioux City; and sister-in-law, Marcia (Rex) Schroeder of Sioux City; several nieces and nephews; and his faithful canine sidekick, Buddy.

He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant grandchild; and three nieces and a nephew.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the family to be used for a memorial bench in Roger’s name to be constructed in the community.