08/29/2026
A celebration of Yokie’s life will be held at 4:06 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, at MontAsia in Fishtail. Food and drinks will follow.
********
When the sun rose over Stillwater County the 26th of August 2026, Yokie Johnson rose alongside, into the loving embrace of Kuan Yin. Her beloved Lo Kong (husband) and Vinnie D (Fishtail’s favorite poodle) took heart that in flying from them, she flew towards generations of Johnson, Olsen, Tang, and Lee family women waiting to meet this tattooed warrior, this regal mom, this secret pirate who could speak four languages, outdrink any Montanan, outeat any Malaysian, melt the coldest heart, and tame the wildest folk.
Nee Tang Yoke Pei, she grew up in old Melaka. It was a kampong life- her parents and three siblings in a hot one-room attic. She left as soon as she could, picking Montana because it was so far away, so cold, it just might keep her dad away. He stayed away, but Montana was warm and welcoming, her true home.
She paid for her chemical engineering degree selling bibles door-to-door in the Deep South every summer. She drove there with a blow-up doll for the HOV lanes, but once there she could sell a bible to a pastor and did so by the truckload. At MSU, in the kitchens late at night, she met her love for this life and the rest: Lee Johnson. She stalked him in ways likely illegal. He never stood a chance.
They blazed a trail of love, laughter, and adventure through the Beartooths, France, Malaysia, and beyond before settling in Stillwater County to raise their beautiful dancing daughter Rose. In her 17 years as a Process Coordinator at Sibanye's smelter complex; her work ethic, intelligence, and willingness to take on the hardest work with the biggest smile made her a legend.
Buoyed by her faith, she lived the last decade of her life with exuberant friendliness, radiant joy, and irresistible passion despite her often-hidden cancer battle. She helped homeschool Rose, took her to Bruno Mars concerts, got matching tattoos with her, and never missed a recital—a tiger mom with velvet paws. Together the Johnsons built MontAsia from the dreamy last line of Yokie’s bucket list into, second only to Lee and Rose, her greatest pride and joy.
Through fires, floods, a pandemic, against all common sense and prevailing winds, MontAsia took root by manifesting Yokie- sharing warm smiles, cold drinks, and great food.
She survives in every crystalline dragonfly wing, every wandering dandelion seed, every time your eye contact sparkles right as your drinks clink cheers, every time someone beautiful remembers your name, every volunteer flower blooming where none dared before.
In Smokey’s memory, pick up the tab, buy a round, try something new, make it spicier; treat every date like a first, and every kiss like your last, forever and always.
