Obituary of Jeanette Johnston

A funeral service for Jeanette Johnston, age 82, of Arnolds Park, will be held Saturday, January 5, 2018 at 11:00AM at Harbor of Joy Lutheran Church in Milford. Visitation will be on Friday, from 5:00-7:00pm at Harbor of Joy Lutheran Church. Jeanette Anna Johnston, the daughter of Emma (Kuehle) and Peter Engel, was born December 23, 1936 in Harlan, Iowa. She was raised and educated in Washta, Iowa. After graduating from high school, Jeanette attended college in Omaha, Nebraska. On December 29, 1956, Jeanette was married to Merle Johnston at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The family lived in Spencer before moving to Arnolds Park in 1997. Jeanette sold insurance for thirty-six years, the last sixteen years of which she owned her own insurance agency. Jeanette was very active in sports and was inducted into the Iowa Hall of Fame in 1972. She was also named All American in basketball in 1955 and 1956. Jeanette was a big fan of the Sioux City Soos, the Minnesota Twins and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Jeanette passed away December 27, 2018 at her home in Arnolds Park, Iowa at eighty-two years of age. Jeanette is survived by her husband, Merle Johnston; son, Mark Johnston and his wife, Karol, of Spirit Lake and her daughter, Lisa Wicks and her husband, Richard, of Spencer; four grandchildren, Lindsay, Christy, Axel and Emma; two step-grandchildren, Bill and Kody; four step-great-grandchildren, Brooke, Kase, Kaden and Nora; sisters, Lorna Christensen and Judy Hinkhouse; brother, Marvin Engel. She was preceded in death by her parents.