Quilt honors Eden Prairie firefighter’s life of motorcycle adventures

Justin Johnson wasn’t looking for T-shirts.

He was helping clean out the home of Joseph Johns – a firefighter he’d hired, mentored, and called a friend – when he came across a collection.

Dozens of shirts, worn and well-traveled, from motorcycle rallies and road trips across the country and beyond. Sturgis, South Dakota. California. Michigan. Ireland. Each one spoke to the places Johns had been and the person he was. Johnson, Eden Prairie’s assistant fire chief for training and health and safety, placed them into two overstuffed bags.

Joseph Johns, 40, an Eden Prairie resident who served part time with the city’s fire department and full time in Eagan, was fatally shot while off duty in Minneapolis on May 5, 2024. His funeral drew a large turnout of firefighters, relatives, and community members at the Ames Center in Burnsville.

(Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford, the man charged in connection with Johns’ death, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to felony possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. He was sentenced to 78 months in prison.)

“He always had a strong attitude and a big laugh,” Johnson said of Johns. “He was intentional about connecting with people, and the way he carried himself was contagious.”

At first, Johnson wasn’t sure what to do with the shirts. But the more he looked at them, the more he saw a story – one that could be preserved and shared, not just donated or forgotten.

A stitch of connection

He thought of the Eden Prairie Senior Center.

“I’ve been here 17 years, so I’m very interconnected with the community,” said Sue Bohnsack, recreation supervisor at the center. “We have a quilting group here. It’s small, but they work all year on a quilt to raffle off in May. They mostly hand quilt everything.”

Bohnsack contacted Beth Lapp, a longtime Eden Prairie resident and experienced quilter.

“Justin brought me two bags filled with the T-shirts,” Lapp said. “These bags were bigger than me.”

When she saw the shirts, she saw an opportunity to honor Johns through her craft.

“Here’s a man who gave so much of himself to the community I live in,” she said. “It was a privilege.”

Lapp started the quilt in January. By April, it was complete – a queen-sized, 96-by-103-inch piece of art.

“You said you wanted it big,” Lapp reminded Johnson.

“I did,” he replied.

She selected the shirts that were most colorful and least faded. She arranged them into rows, stabilized the fabric, backed the quilt, and added edging.

“Some people use circles,” she said. “But for me, it was about looking at what I had and putting it together in a way that looked good.”

On May 5, the quilt was displayed at a department memorial service, held one year after Johns’ death.

“It really was the star of the show,” Johnson said. “Everyone got a chance to look at it, see all the amazing places he’d visited, and appreciate the artwork that had been created for him.”

A rider remembered

Johnson said the effort reflected one of Johns’ greatest passions: motorcycles and the open road.

“Joseph was never shy about sharing his motorcycle stories – all the cool places he had been,” Johnson said. “We’d seen him wear some of the T-shirts, of course, but I think everyone was awestruck by just how many places he’d traveled to and everything he had collected along the way. It gave us all a chance to reflect on the adventures he’d had and the life he lived.

“He would love that we went to the level of thought that we did – working with outside partners and acknowledging what was such a passion for him: riding and seeing different places,” Johnson added. “For us to be able to put all that together and give it to his family, he would be awestruck. I think he’d be amazed that we went to such lengths to give something meaningful back to them and to help them carry his memory forward as they process his loss.”

At the time of the interview, the quilt hadn’t yet reached Johns’ family, who live in Ohio and Florida. Johnson mailed it shortly afterward.

“They’re anxious to get their hands on it,” he said. “They’re really excited to see it.”

“I can’t even imagine the hug they’re all going to feel with that blanket wrapped around them,” Bohnsack added.

“I’m anxious for them to have it – not because I did it,” Lapp said, “but just because of what it represents to them.”

A lasting tribute

Johns joined the Eden Prairie Fire Department in 2015. Johnson, then a lieutenant, helped bring him on board. He later accepted a full-time position in Eagan but continued serving part-time in Eden Prairie.

“He really found purpose in serving the community and giving back to the one he lived in,” Johnson said. “That kind of set him on his career path.”

Lapp never met Johns.

“I wish I could have,” she said.

“I could see him doing this for someone else,” Bohnsack added.

“One thousand percent,” Johnson said. “He would go to the nth degree to make sure everything possible was done – not just for his fire family, but for the family that might have been affected. That was a passion of his.”

In the end, the quilt became more than fabric. It became a shared tribute – not only to a firefighter, but to the quiet power of collaboration.

“A cool part of the story is how much the city has invested in the Senior Center, and how Sue has set the culture and made so many connections,” Johnson said. “Now it’s come full circle – we’re all working together for a common mission. The city invests in this place, Sue connects with people like Beth, and Beth gives back to someone who really cared about this community.”

“I think what Justin just said really captures what we want to portray – the city supporting its firefighters, its community members, and the Senior Center,” Bohnsack said.

“We just meshed,” Lapp added. “That’s the best way I can put it – and it felt good to be part of something bigger. The collaboration is what worked.”