Obituary of Janet Elaine Johnson

Janet Johnson, 85, of Olympia, passed away peacefully on October 26, 2014. Janet Elaine Sherwood was born June 13, 1929, in Seattle, Washington, to Cameron Sherwood and Marion Conklin Sherwood. After Cameron served as Assistant U.S. District Attorney, the family relocated to Walla Walla where Cameron went into private practice. Janet and her sisters were raised in a beautiful white house across the street from Whitman College, graduating from Walla Walla high school in 1947. Marion was the commensurate lady and home maker, hosting Cameron’s colleagues and clients for dinner parties, hand making the latest fashionable clothes for the girls, and growing a fabulous garden. Janet gained an obsession for politics from her father, an understanding of the critical role of home maker and wife in the family’s success from her mother, and learned the importance of education from both her parents. Application of these lessons would be put on hold, as a young Janet had wanderlust and she wanted to live many uncommon adventures for women of the time before settling down. Unsatisfied with staying in one place, Janet attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1947-1948 and Washington State University in 1948-1951, majoring in Liberal Arts. She led an extremely active social life, working on the ski patrol, and gaining her private pilot’s license. Prior to graduation, a career counselor advised Janet to consider becoming an educator and that opportunities were available in the Los Angeles area for instruction of special education students. At the discouragement of her parents and up for the adventure, Janet left school in 1951 to go to southern California with a friend. She promptly landed a position at the Exceptional Children’s Foundation in Alhambra, California, as a special education teacher. This was a time when many children with developmental disabilities were institutionalized; little was understood about these children, let alone the approach to educating them. Without a set curriculum, Janet and her colleagues developed the curriculum. This experience, while short, became the foundation for a lifelong love of educating and of children. In 1951, Janet was supposed to meet a date at a southern California coffee shop; he did not arrive in time and instead she bumped into a sailor named Arnold Johnson, so she had coffee with him, and then they began dating. It was a match and in June of 1952, the two were married in Walla Walla. Jan left teaching to support Arnie’s career and start a family. James Johnson promptly arrived in 1954 in Bremerton, Washington. Then came Thomas in 1955, Phillip in 1957, Michael in 1958, and finally the daughter Jan longed for, Virginia, in 1960. It was not uncommon to see wives, especially military wives, maintain roles in the community even with a young family; likewise, Jan remained extremely social and active in the naval community. As the family traveled across the country for Arnie’s career, Jan served each community in every way she could. She went back to teaching special needs students as a volunteer at the San Diego City Schools in 1952-1954, and in Adak, Alaska in 1958-1959. Jan became a water safety instructor in the early 1950s and continued volunteering in this capacity with the American Red Cross and YMCA throughout her life. Jan taught hundreds of people how to swim and some of her own children knew how to swim before they could walk. She was in the Enlisted Wives Club, serving as President of the Adak chapter in 1958-1959, and then was a member of the Officer’s Wives Club, serving as president of the Washington, D.C. Club in 1973-1974. Jan was a Girl Scout leader in 1971-1973. Jan served many years volunteering and fund raising with the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society and the Salvation Army, running the Salvation Army Rummage Sale. Jan was extremely proud of Arnie’s career as a Military Officer and she was honored to be a Navy wife. Upon Arnold’s retirement in 1974, the family relocated to Olympia, Washington, where Jan quickly established herself as a valuable community member and volunteer. Shortly after arriving, she took her first tour of the Capitol. Jan said, “I was immediately interested in everything about the building” and so she started a 32-year career as a tour guide at the Washington State Capitol Legislative Building and the Governor’s Mansion. Jan loved the State of Washington and the Capitol building, making the position a natural fit for her. Jan established herself as an exceptional tour guide, and proudly accepted responsibility for giving tours to foreign dignitaries, and other special guests. Her family found hundreds of thank you letters for the tours she gave to groups from across the United States and the world. Her favorite tours were groups of elementary school children. Jan could entertain and educate a rambunctious group of children at the same time with tales of Washington State History. Over her 32 years of state service, the family’s best estimate is that Jan gave more than 5,000 people tours of the Washington State Capitol buildings. Having grown up the daughter of an attorney and a two-time Delegate to the Republican National Convention, politics ran in Jan’s blood. She had a deep appreciation and respect for the election process. She would want us to note here that she was a Republican. She was also well versed in women’s suffrage and the history of Women’s rights (and was particularly proud of her Washington State heritage as it was an early adopter of Women’s Suffrage). Jan stayed up late every election night to see all results come in. Jan served as Thurston County Precinct Committeeperson in 1975 -1992, Thurston County State Committeewoman 1986-1988, and Deputy Voter Registrar 1980-1992. She also served as President of the Republican Women’s Club in 1975 – 1992 and the Washington Federation of Republican Women for the same period. In 1998, Saint Martin’s College honored Jan as one of Washington’s Very Important Women. Jan loved talking about other people and their achievements rather than her own. While her friends and colleagues probably thought that all she talked about were her children and grandchildren, her children and grandchildren only heard about what was going on with her friends and colleagues. Jan cared deeply about the education of others, writing college letters of recommendation for countless young people and encouraging higher education for all. Jan was a passionate doll and bear collector and was a member of the local doll club, Dolls & Toys Northwest. She amassed a substantial collection over the decades and her favorite characters were Alice in Wonderland and Steif Bears. In recent years, the hobby was shared with her son, Jim. Jan appreciated the finer things in life. She loved music, reading, art, architecture, and traveling. Jan loved downtown Olympia and frequented several establishments, including Wagner’s Bakery (don’t forget the rolls), Art House, Panowicz, Dockside Bistro, Batdorf & Bronson, Canvas Works, Dree’s, and since closed Talcott’s and Bartell’s. Jan loved Christmas, planning year round for the event. Continuing her mother’s tradition, she “made Christmas sparkle.” Jan made Christmas special for the entire family, and she will be deeply missed every day and for many Christmases to come. Jan was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Arnold G. Johnson, in December of 2012. She is survived by sisters, Judy Sherwood Mead of Portland, OR, and Joan Sherwood Schaeffer of Lexington, KY; children, James (and Carrol Fackler), Thomas (and Joyce Wakefield Johnson), Philip (and Jennifer Bailey Johnson), and Mike, all of Olympia, and Virginia Santomauro (and Rich Santomauro) of San Diego; and her grandchildren, Michelle Johnson Palmer (and Billy Palmer) of Palmdale, CA, Danielle Johnson (and Anton Doudarev) of New York, NY, Mea Johnson of Olympia, Catherine Miller of San Diego, Benjamin Johnson, Cameron Johnson, and Julianna Johnson, all of Olympia. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Arnold and Janet Johnson Memorial Scholarship at Saint Martin’s University. Please contact Katie Wojke at 360-438-4366 or mail to 5000 Abbey Way, Lacey WA, 98502. Please leave memories of Jan or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.