A retired priest who was killed in a suspected roadside attack was laid to rest on Saturday

A retired priest who was strangled in a car nearly two months ago was finally laid to rest Saturday.

Father Lawrence Johnson, 76, was remembered Saturday by dozens of people who filled the pews of the Nativity of Mary Catholic Church.

Father Johnson was better known as “Larry” to those who loved him.

“I believe we are here today because Father Larry touched our lives. He has now become a part of the community that we are,” said Rev. Mike Sullivan, who delivered the sermon.

Johnson began seminary at the age of 13. He was later ordained a priest in 1975 and received his first commission in the same church where he was buried almost 50 years later.

“Larry knew he wanted to be a priest when he was five years old,” said Dan House, speaking on behalf of Johnson’s surviving brother, Howard Johnson.

Howard Johnson was stuck in Tennessee because of tropical storms, House said.

In the words of Howard Johnson, House told the story of the entire family coming to Mass at Nativity of Mary Catholic Church for the first time to support Father Johnson in his early days as a priest.

“He asked us to get up. Bad idea, Larry. Our family occupied an entire pew, but the only one who could celebrate communion was our mother. “The rest of us haven’t been to confession in years,” House read.

“It was obvious who the Gentiles were,” he continued as the congregation laughed.

Johnson was remembered by many families as a leader who cared for people outside the church and into retirement, several pastors said Saturday at the altar.

On the day Johnson died, the man accused of killing him told police that Johnson was taking him to the hospital for a mental health evaluation when “voices in his head” told him to Killing Johnson “to save humanity,” according to court documents.

“Father Larry spent his entire life serving God and his fellow man. “He died in the process,” House said in his own words.

“Be safe, help someone in need, have forgiveness in your heart and always praise our Lord.”

Father Johnson will be buried at Calvary Cemetery in Anoka.

Nathan Wondra, the man accused of Johnson’s murder, is expected to appear in court again in November.

The day after Johnson’s death, he was charged with second-degree murder.

Police say Wondra self-reported the incident. He is being held at the Ramsey County Jail at the time of this report.

According to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Johnson voluntarily retired from all positions in 2014. In a statement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said the archdiocese “learned of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Father Johnson in 1994 and reported it to law enforcement.”

Law enforcement completed their investigation weeks later and no criminal charges were filed, the statement said.

The archdiocese’s Ministerial Review Board also conducted an internal review of the 2017 allegations, Hebda wrote.

“After completing its deliberations, the MRB concluded that the claim was without merit” and Johnson was permitted “to undertake limited service in office in the coming months consistent with his retirement status and health considerations.”