[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15638]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


       TRIBUTE TO DAVID JOHNSON, CO-FOUNDER OF POLARIS INDUSTRIES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. COLLIN C. PETERSON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 1, 2016

  Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a visionary 
business man from my district, David Johnson. He co-foundered Polaris 
Industries and designed its first snowmobile.
  While Mr. Johnson was in the Navy he invested half of his paycheck . 
. . just $11 after he received a letter from his friend asking for 
help. When he returned home after his military service Mr. Johnson went 
to work for the company.
  The company he helped found reached its first billion-dollar sales 
year in 1995. It now generates over $4 billion in sales yearly and has 
a major impact on the local economy.
  Despite retiring in 1988, Mr Johnson was a regular fixture at the 
company's Roseau, Minnesota plant, which is in my district. He would 
check in on the newer models the company was producing and he would 
also give tours and share stories about company history.
  Mr. Johnson was a lifelong snowmobile rider. For his 90th birthday, 
he took a three-day 150-mile ride aboard a Polaris snowmobile from 
Roseau to his old cabin in the Northwest angle.
  Mr. Johnson was inducted into the snowmobile Hall of Fame in 1999. 
Mr. Johnson died in his Roseau MN home after a long illness. He was 93 
years old.
  David Johnson is survived by his wife of 68 years, Eleanor, and their 
children, Rodney, Mary, Mitchell, and Aaron. All Polaris employees were 
honorary pallbearers for his funeral service.
  It was my sincere pleasure to know David Johnson and to work with 
him.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and 
achievements of David Johnson.

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