Farewell to Irene (Weishaar) Johnson, a celebrated centenarian and namesake owner of Irene’s Restaurant and Bakery located on Lewiston’s Main Street during its heyday late 1950s to early ’70s.
Irene was born Dec. 1, 1923, in North Dakota to German Ukraine immigrants Fred and Johanna Weishaar, who relocated four years later to a farm near Terry, Mont., where she was raised with five brothers and three sisters. Irene graduated from Fairfield High School in 1942 and took a lumber mill accounting job in Great Falls, Mont. With her brothers away to fight in World War II, she eventually moved with her sisters and parents to Yakima, where she met Floyd M. Johnson, a U.S. Navy Pearl Harbor survivor, recalled to active duty for the Korean War soon after their 1946 marriage, leaving Irene to care for two preschool sons on her own.
The couple lived in the Seattle area and Spokane for a short time after the war before eventually relocating to Lewiston and opening Irene’s Restaurant and Bakery at 600 Main St., in 1958, where she became the welcoming host for daily diners in the bustling business district. The couple juggled work, community service and raising six children in the valley, with the oldest Richard and wife Kathy still residing in Lewiston. Son Dennis with wife Cathy and son Lance live in Spokane; daughter Debbie with husband Dan Grogg are in Post Falls, while youngest son Barry with wife Gina live in Boise. A second daughter Carol (now deceased) was married to Kip Bloss of Twin Falls and preceded Irene to Heaven in 2019.
Irene’s Bakery closed in 1972 when the Johnsons built and operated the popular Woodshed Bar and Supper Club in Winchester before selling and returning to Lewiston to acquire and rejuvenate Headquarters Café at 410 Main St. Following a divorce in 1981, Irene worked for several years at Driscoll’s Army-Navy Outdoor Store in Lewiston until retiring to Post Falls where she helped raise and form a special bond with granddaughter Sarah Grogg. Irene was regarded by all as a family treasure, with an uncanny ability to know and ensure birthdays and anniversaries were always celebrated. She also shared a unique connection to twin great-granddaughters Kaitlyn and Marissa Johnson, of Lewiston, who shared her same birthday and distinctive red hair. In all, Irene’s six children went on to entertain her with 12 grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
Irene returned to Lewiston three years ago to reside at Brookdale Assisted Living where a 100th birthday celebration in 2023 attended by extended family and friends was documented with a KLEW-TV news report and Tribune cover story. Irene’s caring and generous character will continue to inspire all who knew her along with the memory of perhaps the only and harshest criticism she ever shared: that the effects of aging are just stupid. She peacefully passed Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at age 101.
A graveside ceremony for family and friends will be held 2 p.m. Monday, March 10, at Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens in Lewiston where Irene will be buried with her daughter Carol’s ashes alongside grandson Bryan Johnson, who passed in 2008.
It would be beyond Irene’s wishes to suggest any remembrance on her behalf, although a fitting way to honor her memory would be to simply use and support your local library.
