On Thursday, the Utah State University Extension announced in a press release that the Weber County 4-H program was the recipient of a donation of more than $700,000 from the Ron and Betty Johnson Trust to establish an endowment dedicated to expanding 4-H opportunities for youth in the Ogden School District.

“Betty Lalli Johnson, who grew up in Ogden, and her husband Ron, a Northern California native, married in Ogden in 1958,” the release said. “They have devoted their lives to supporting community organizations that uplift youth. Ron passed away 20 years ago, but Betty has continued their legacy. In her later years, she developed a deep appreciation for 4-H, frequently attending events and admiring the confidence, kindness, and enthusiasm of its members.”

“Although Betty did not have the opportunity to participate in 4-H as a young person, she was inspired by the impact it had on others. Her wish is to ensure that more youth — especially those in urban settings — can benefit from the learning, growth, and sense of belonging that 4-H provides.”

David Widdison, USU Extension Weber County program coordinator, told the Standard-Examiner on Monday the donation has its roots in his arrival in Ogden.

“When I moved to Ogden seven years ago, I moved in across the street from Betty,” he said. “We became very close friends over the years. She was the same age as my mother and I just felt a connection with her. Our friendship grew over the years and I would take her to different 4-H activities because she’d been alone for over 20 years since her husband died.”

He said that 4-H activities had a major impression on Johnson.

“As she would come to the different 4-H activities and observe the youth, she was just always impressed with how polite and kind they were to her as they were interacting with her and the adults,” he said. “She worked as a manager with the IRS for over 35 years, and she said, ‘I’ve watched people interactions my whole life and I just love what I see with these kids.'”

Widdison said Johnson had been unaware of the 4-H program when she had been in school and said that she hoped to help make it easier for kids in the Ogden School District to participate in the future. Betty Johnson passed away in July 2025.

“Her and Ron never had any children, so they spent most of their free time volunteering for various service organizations throughout their lifetimes” Widdison said. “They were very civic minded and wanted to help kids.”

Widdison said the endowment will go a long way toward helping the program make inroads into urban Weber County.

“It’s set up in an endowment, so each year we will be able to use some of the interest off of that money to help promote the 4-H program in the Ogden School District area,” he said. “We anticipate it to help us provide programming places and opportunities to help teach the kids about STEM, life skills and help get them more involved in the 4-H program.”

He said there are already 800 kids involved in Weber County’s 4-H program, but the goal is to bring in more.

“Most of those kids are in the Weber School District,” he said. “We’re looking to help make inroads with the Ogden School District area, whether that is helping us get some space so we can hold programs closer to where the kids are to helping us get people to help run the programs.”

Widdison said he sees the donation as a “transformative gift” for the county’s 4-H program.

“We haven’t been able to reach the Ogden School District kids very effectively,” he said. “This will give us resources that we can help focus more intently on that area and we’ll be able to have some money to get spaces and hopefully get more people to serve those kids.”