Janet W. Johnston

Our beloved mother, Janet Wilkinson Johnston, passed away at home September 27, 2016 surrounded by her loving family.  She will be dearly missed by friends and family.  

 Janet is preceded in death by her parents Helen Rebecca Wilkinson and William Elgin Wilkinson and her husband of 46 years, Jack B. Johnston, and two sisters Margaret “TD” Mahannah and Edith Frawley.  Janet was born and raised in Long Beach and loved to reminisce about the early days spent riding the breakers in Long Beach Harbor.  After high school, Janet attended the University of Southern California where she pledged Kappa Alpha Theta and where she learned songs that she would sing with a Theta granddaughter 60 years later.  She went on to graduate with an English degree from Western College for Women which is now part of Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio.

 Music remained a central theme in Janet’s life.  With classical training on the piano in her youth, Janet was gifted with ability to pick up and play melodies by ear.  Many nights we’d fall asleep listening to her play from a long list of children’s rhymes.  She continued to play the piano into her 90’s.

 After college, Janet moved to San Francisco where she met her future husband and love of her life, Jack Johnston.  After a short three-month courtship they married and eight years later were the proud parents of five children.

 Janet was known to have a wicked sense of humor and kept her friends and family laughing. Above all else, Janet will be remembered as a loving mother and grandmother. Her family meant everything to her. The love she had for her family was mirrored in the love they have for her.  

 She is survived by her children Steven Johnston (Allison), Ross Johnston (Betsy), Susan Johnston, Margaret D’Cruz (Chris), and Nancy Keating (Ken) and her 8 beloved  grandchildren.

 Friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service at 10:30am on Tuesday, October 18 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 2620 Capitol Ave, Sac. CA., 95816. A Celebration of Life Reception will follow service.