1961

Jane Johnson

August 5, 2026

Jane Johnson Penning

Updated: August 20, 2026

August 13th - Thank you Rick Ross for lettiing us know... Jane Johnson Penning passed away on August 5, 2026.

Today, August 20th, Jane's Obituary was found on the The McHenry Funeral home site. I had forwarded Jane's Senior picture to them... and it was included in the photos on the funeral home page.

Jane Ann Penning, age 80, passed away on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at her home in Corvallis.

Jane was born on November 16, 1945, to Walter and Marien Johson, in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

She attended the University of Idaho where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education. She was an accomplished and beloved teacher at the elementary school, secondary school, and college levels.

She married the love of her life, Fred Penning, on August 18, 1973. Together they had three children; Ben, Nicole, and Joshua, and were also blessed with five grandchildren; Dashell, Oren, Archie, Sylvie, and Everly.

She loved her family, friends, quilting, and flower gardening. She was always known for her bright smile, positive attitude, and making others feel welcome.

In her memory, please consider a scan to rule out aortic issues if you have a family history of heart disease. Donations can be made in Jane’s name to the American Heart Association.

Spouse: Fred

Josh, Nicole and Ben

Kids:

Ben	28	Works in San Diego designing web sites for professional people. He is working on his MBA.
Nicole	27	Lives in Seattle as an architect designing schools and hospitals. She will transfer this winter to San Francisco.
Josh	25	He is in the Air Force, four and half years, and is currently in Afganistan. He works on the A-10s and is stationed on an army base.

Me, Fred and Nicole at Bill Bailey's daughter's wedding

After graduation from the U of I, I was a teacher in Oregon for six years. I then met my husband who was flying Vertol helicopters and logging with them. After flying and moving around for a couple of years, we then bought a farm in Grand Coulee, WA and lived there for 10 years. Our three beautiful children were born there. After that we moved to Cheney, WA. for four years. My husband then became a division manager for a company called Waste Management. From Cheney we moved to Dallas, TX, to San Diego, CA, back to Dallas, to Little Rock, AR. and then to Omaha, NE. We decided we wanted to move back to the west coast. So four years ago we packed up everything and moved to Corvallis, OR where he works for the same kind of company here. I along the way have mostly been in the educational field. I have taught everything from preschool to community college. I mostly taught middle school which is a tremendous training ground for any kind of work. At the present I am a substitute teacher and just finished a long term sub job for a year.

My mother (still going strong), Me and Nicole

I have always believed there is a reason for everything that happens to us in life, be it good or bad. Just after we moved here my husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer. It was just a total fluke that the doctor found it. There are no symptoms or signs of the disease until it is too late. So after battling the disease for two years and going through a treatment called Interleukin II he has been clean for two years. We feel so lucky and so blessed that this doctor just happened into our lives.

We just celebrated our 30th anniversary last year. We plan to retire someday soon but until then he plays handball and golf and, I sew, read, garden and play golf. We are so enjoying being out west again as our families are scattered in the northwest. I am not sure if I will be able to attend the reunion this year but I have really enjoyed the web site. Thank you Bill for the great job.