Jane Ellen Johnson was the eleventh child and 7th daughter born to Herb and Adele Johnson. She was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital, September 9, 1958, 15 days before her niece Terry Waid. She died July 16, 1963, just short of her 5th birthday. The exact origins of her name is unknown since there were no known Jane's or Ellen's in the family (Later research has turned up several among recently discovered relatives) however her initials “J.E.J” were that of her paternal grandfather John E. Johnson. It was in this way that her name was linked to family.

Her mother Adele commented that as a baby, Jane was a cheerful and relatively easy to care for. Older brother Paul remembers watching her in her crib when she discovered both her hands and feet. She would look intently at each and carefully move each one. As her hands and feet moved she became excited. The faster they moved the more excited, the faster they moved and the more excited she got. This continued for several moments until she jumped slightly in the air. She had a very surprised look on her face, not fully realizing what she had done. She became mobile not by creeping or crawling, but by scooting on her seat. She could move as rapidly as any other child of her age who crawled, but with the added bonus (to her) of having her hands free. Jane explored every where and since her hands were free, many objects had to be stored high. Except for this unusual form of locomotion, all of Jane’ development were quite normal.

Jane had striking blond hair, as did her just older sister Anne and her niece Terry. All of the girls sported a “Prince Valiant” cut of bangs and straight hair to the middle of their neck. At one party, the guests were treated to three little blond heads peeking around the chair.

What stands out about Jane was her generosity. She shared everything, including her favorite blanket and he stuffed dog “Bullet.” One day when her Aunt Lois Becker was visiting with her son and daughter, the three Johnson girls, Margaret, Anne and Jane took their cousin Linda to see “their” horses. They were three of the neighbor’s horses who pastured just behind the farm house and the girls each “adopted” one. At seeing Linda Becker sad that there were not enough horses for the four of them, Jane “gave” her horse to her.

Jane often played the mediator between her two older sisters, Margaret and Anne, whose sibling rivalry was almost, but not quite that of their older brothers. Jane could and did play alone. One of favorite toys was a small plastic railroad. She would sit for long periods of time arranging and rearranging the track, the buildings and cars.
The relationship with her niece proved interesting. Terry was just 2 weeks younger and they played well together. There seemed little problem of identifying Barbara as “Mom” and “Sister” and Adele as “Mom” and Grandma”, but when Grandma Harsch visited the “Grandma” “Great Grandma” concept eluded them both.

The two older boys seemed to have a special relationship with Jane. Being significantly younger, Jane could be seen as “My sister, my daughter” in the eyes of two boys, especially Paul. They changed diapers, took her for walks and when off at college were always greeted with a running hug and kiss upon returning to home for a week-end or vacation. Jane would sit in anyone’s lap and especially liked to be read to.

Jane was interested in almost everything that went on and wanted to be a part of it. When she was two or three she took great interest in the preparations for Halloween. She was prepared to hand out candy as others come to the door. The candy was put in a bowl on a table by the front door, Jane had her costume and all was in readiness. The doorbell rang for the first time, Jane rushed to the door, opened it and one of the children said “BOO.” That ended Jane’s participation as she wanted nothing to do with people who said “BOO!”

As Jane approached age five, she was exited about attending kindergarten. She and Adele did some shopping for school. In early July she was playing with the Weigle children. They lived in a house next to and owned by the Ebbe Co and their father work for Herb. Jane was there while Adele ran the garden shop at the Ebbe Co. On July 15th she was playing with Margaret and Anne. They were running down the path between the tractor shed and the barn, trying to scare the Fischer's horses. They all were holding hands, she apparently had fell on the stick. She began to cry. Annie saw Paul and Charlie, who had just come home for supper, getting out of the car and she and Margaret ran up for help. Paul carried Janie into the house. During supper Jane became nauseous. Adele put her on the couch where she fell asleep. A bit later that evening, she woke up wanting to see Father Giles, who was coming out to participate in a bible study group, but she couldn't remain awake. Consulting with the family pediatrician it was discovered that a few days after playing with them, the Weigle children came down with a particularly virulent strain of a stomach flu. Adele was told what to look for as far as other symptoms. After supper the next day, Adele checked and Jane and thought something was wrong, for Jane was very unresponsive and appeared to be in a coma. The rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late. Unknown to anyone, Jane had a large cyst growing on her stomach and the fall had ruptured it, peritonitis had set in which led to her death. It is unfortunate that the symptoms of the peritonitis and stomach flu were identical. It is also ironic that Jane's paternal grandmother, Eva, and Eva’s grandfather had died from the same cause - "blood poisoning."