Iris Simmelink Johnson born April 20, 1936, passed away on Friday, October 31, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. A long time Denver resident, Iris was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and community member.

Born in Smith County, Kansas to parents Harry Simmelink and Dena Kuiken Simmelink, Iris attended rural Kansas schools graduating from Lebanon High School in 1953. While working in Denver in 1956, she met her future husband, R. Hal Johnson Jr., a Petroleum Landman. They married May 24, 1958. Their early married years were spent in Durango, Colorado during which time their two children were born.

The family moved to Denver in 1968. As time allowed, Iris attended the University of Colorado at Denver, graduating in 1980 with a degree in Urban Studies. She also spent many years doing volunteer work, particularly at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Iris and Hal enjoyed traveling with the children, and later by themselves. After Hal's death in 2009, she continued to travel both with a group and by herself.

Iris was predeceased in death by her husband and her step-mother Lena Wiersma Simmelink. Surviving are her daughter Dena Johnson Pinsker (Neal Pinsker) and her son Matthew Johnson (Teri Bearden), grandchildren Jordan Nell Fouts, Daniel Matthew Johnson (Lindsey Johnson) and Patrick Thomas Johnson, sisters Bonnie Nijenhuis and Shirley Barr, nieces and nephews Alan Gilbronson, Diana Hawkins, Brent Mickey, Heuser Barr (Debra DiSandro) and Weston Barr (Giovanna Barr).

A memorial mass will be celebrated on Monday, November 10, 2025, 10:00 am at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 2626 E. 7th Avenue Parkway, Denver Colorado, 80206. Inurnment will be private at Fort Logan National Cemetery where she will be laid to rest with her husband.

If anyone wishes to make a memorial donation in Iris' name, please consider Habitat for Humanity, thedenverhospice.org/giving/ Iris's Garden and Scholarships at St. Joseph's Mission School, P.O. Box 370, San Fidel, New Mexico 87049.