Ancestry: Sometimes there are surprises

I have no doubt as to where I come from.  I know my ancestry on both my mother's and my father's side of the family. My mother was an important part of my formation, values and identity, as was my dad  -  I am of 100% Norwegian and my identity is heavily influenced by my  rural Minnesota, Lutheran  background. I was also shaped and formed by a few teachers, pastors, and friends along the way. One of them was Dave C. Johnson, a Professor of Sociology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where I went to college in the 1960s. He was a beloved mentor and inspiration to many.. Humorous and engaging, perhaps the most intelligent person I had met up to that time of my life. 

While I grew up in a Norwegian Lutheran heritage, Dave Johnson grew up in the Swedish Lutheran tradition,  He was a Scandinavian in Minnesota and he was a Johnson. I once tried to locate him in the Minneapolis telephone book and found at least a dozen David Johnson's.  

In 1946, when Dave was 13 and the world was still reeling from the horrors of Nazism, World War II and anti-Semitism, his mother took him aside and shared the well-kept family secret, the secret not to be told: She told young David that she was Jewish. Dave Johnson is half Jewish, and of Eastern European rabbinical stock, no less. Uffda! Oyvey!
 
Dave has just finished a totally engaging account of his personal journey to discover and honor his Jewish ancestry and heritage. It was diligently and doggedly researched, and recorded with detail and affection. The book is a legacy for coming generations, and a lovely account of Dave’s growth and maturation as he transitioned from keeping the “secret” to “coming-out” Jewish, boldly and proudly. I haven't gotten a copy yet but it comes recommend from a friend and I will read it, for sure..

Shtetls to Shipsides/The Religious Roads of My Mother’s People is available on amazon.com, or by contacting Dave at johnson@umn.edu