MINNEAPOLIS, December 27, 2007—A Mora woman who died in 2005 will be honored on a Rose Parade float on New Year's Day for being an organ donor.

Though Karlynn Johnson was only 28 when she died, by indicating on her drivers license that she was an organ donor she helped five other people live.

According to a story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Johnson had undergone benign brain tumor surgery and died when complications left her brain dead. She was a special-education aide and mother to a very young son, Grant.

Karlynn Johnson's parents became involved with LifeSource, a St. Paul-based organ and tissue procurement organization which uses the Rose Bowl Parade to educate people about organdonation.

The Johnsons traveled to Pasadena, to work on a portrait of her for the organization's Donate Life float.

Each of the 30 organ procurement organizations in the country has chosen someone to be represented on the float, which features four colorful hot air balloons rising 30 feet above 24 riders whose lives have been saved and renewed by donors.

Karlynn Johnson's family has received letters from the recipient of her liver, a man whom her parents said Karlynn would have picked herself because of his love of nature. He wrote that he didn't have much stamina before his transplant, but he was finally able to backpack in northern Minnesota for two days.

"For our family to know that her gift gave someone else the opportunity to enjoy God's beautiful creation and be outdoors is so special," Derek Johnson said.