Ellen Jane Johnston

Shortly before our mother died at age 98, she asked that a few of her early memories serve as her obituary. The following words are hers: “I was born on the farm in South Dakota, December 8, 1922. Not only was I tiny at 4 pounds but I was born feet first. My mother carried me around in her large apron pocket to keep me warm. By age 3, I knew that I loved music. I sang my first song for an audience in church but because there were so many verses, I gave up, jumped off the platform and sat down. When I was quite young we moved to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Our cattle and horses were dying and the conditions were better on the reservation. We leased land from the Indians and never went back to the farm. Schooling was important, so at age 6 I moved in with my 18 year old school teacher cousin, Ollie. We moved from place to place on the reservation depending on where a teacher was needed. I lived with Ollie for the next 8 years and made infrequent trips home to see the family. Ollie was a great teacher and friend, really the best teacher in the world. She had a great love for reading and music and encouraged me to excel in those areas. After completing 8th grade the family left the reservation and moved to Marysville, Idaho, where we joined other family that had migrated there for work. Although our family was very poor, I never felt deprived. My mother was an excellent cook and seamstress. When my sister, Marguerite, and I saw in a catalogue a dress that we just loved, mother would manage to find some material and then make us the dresses without using a pattern. To get to school we had to walk 4 miles one way in the snow during the cold winters. If we were lucky we could jump on a sleigh going by and hang on to the sides, then jump off when we saw the schoolhouse. We had some wild rides! After I graduated from high school, the family moved to Sumner, Washington. Dad got work in the daffodil fields owned by Mr. Ed Orton. I had a variety of jobs, but my favorite was working as a soda jerk in the local drug store. I was treated very well by the owner, in fact, when men from town would come in and start to say something inappropriate, or tell a joke that was a bit off color, the owner would stop them and say, “Ellen is in the store.” I met my husband, Eldon (Ed) Johnston at a Thanksgiving dinner party. Ed and his cousin, Wayne, shot a turkey, fixed a nice dinner and invited several girls to the party. Ed was good looking and funny, but he had a girlfriend. Eventually he invited me to the carnival in Ashton, Idaho. It wasn’t long before he was sent to Nome, Alaska, for military service. Our courtship consisted mostly of letters. When he asked me to come to Alaska and marry him, I couldn’t imagine how I could make a trip like that. I wasn’t sure I had the courage, but I knew that I loved Ed and wanted to marry him. My mother encouraged me to go. I took a ship from Seattle to somewhere that took five days. Then I got on a train that took me to a little town where because of poor weather conditions I had to wait 19 days until an old G.I. plane could take me to Nome. My 50 pounds of luggage went on before me! G.I.’s were not to have wives in Nome, of course, so we married in secret. I found work at Mr. Pollet’s variety store. Ed thought it was quite amusing that G.I.’s lined up outside the store to get a look at me. I was young and pretty. We managed to keep our marriage a secret for about 6 months and then Ed was sent out on furlough and I went with him. After military service ended, we settled in Spanaway, Washington. Ed found work at Fort Lewis operating heavy equipment as he had done in Nome, Alaska. Our 4 children Eldon George, Terry Wayne, Jeannie Ellen, and Sharron Elizabeth were all raised in Spanaway. They were good kids and we were very proud of them. I had a good life.”