A retired priest who was strangled to death in a car nearly two months ago was laid to rest at last on Saturday.

Father Lawrence Johnson, 76, was remembered on Saturday by dozens filling the pews of the Nativity of Mary Catholic Church.

Father Johnson was better known by those who loved him as “Larry.”

“The reason I believe that we are here today is that Father Larry touched our lives. He has now become a part of the tapestry that is who we are,” said Rev. Mike Sullivan, who was giving the Homily.

Johnson started seminary at 13 years old. He was later ordained in 1975 and got his first assignment in the same church where he was laid to rest nearly 50 years later.

“Larry knew he wanted to be a priest at five years old,” said Dan House, speaking on behalf of Johnson’s surviving brother, Howard Johnson.

Howard Johnson was stuck in Tennessee due to tropical storms, House said.

House, in Howard Johnson’s words, shared the story of the entire family coming to Nativity of Mary Catholic Church for mass for the first time to support Father Johnson in his early days as a priest.

“He asked us to stand. Bad idea, Larry. Our family occupied an entire pew but the only one who could celebrate communion was our mom. The rest of us had not been to confession in years,” House read.

“It was obvious who the heathens were,” he continued as the congregation laughed.

Johnson went on to be remembered as a guiding force for many families, caring for people outside of the church and into retirement, according to several of the ministers at the alter on Saturday.

On the day Johnson died, the man accused of killing him told police that Johnson was taking him to the hospital for a mental health evaluation when ‘voices in his head’ told him to kill Johnson ‘to save humanity,’ according to court documents.

“Father Larry spent his entire life in service to God and his fellow man. He also died doing so,” House said, now in his own words.

“Be safe, help someone in need, have forgiveness in your heart and always give praise to our lord.”

Father Johnson will be buried at Calvary Cemetery in Anoka.

Nathan Wondra, the man accused of killing Johnson, is expected to appear in court again in November.

He was charged with second-degree murder the day after Johnson’s death.

Police say Wondra self-reported the incident. He is in custody at the Ramsey County Jail as of this report.

Johnson voluntarily withdrew from all ministry in 2014, according to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. In a statement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said the Archdiocese “learned of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Father Johnson said to have occurred in 1994, and reported it to law enforcement.”

Law enforcement concluded its investigation weeks later and criminal charges were not filed, according to the statement.

The Archdiocesan Ministerial Review Board also conducted an internal review of the 2017 allegation, Hebda wrote.

“At the completion of its deliberations, the MRB determined that the allegation was not substantiated” and Johnson was permitted to “resume some limited ministry in the coming months commensurate with his retired status and health considerations.”