Janice Johnson Johnson

After Wilson I attended Occidental College in Los Angeles and earned a B.A. in Sociology. My other degrees are M.A. in Psychology and Counseling and M.B.A. (Business Administration). Lived in Australia and taught high school English for a year. Worked at Tektronix and Intel mostly as a human resource manager. Moved to Huntington Beach, CA with Alan and we bought a 44-foot schooner and spent three years traveling aboard. Wrote "Stumbling Aboard: A Reluctant First Mate Sails through Twenty Countries" (available on Amazon). Lived in Bisbee, AZ on the Mexican border for a year and moved to Florida to take care of mother-in-law and buy another boat. Lived in Florida 12 years, sailed up and down the East Coast and to the Bahamas with our Lab. Moved to Oregon to take care of my mom. Decided to give up boating and now live in Vancouver, WA. Volunteer work includes: long-term care ombudsman (advocate for people in nursing homes), therapy dog handler, mediator, Oregon Mensa board member, Rose City clowns (former Rose Festival clown with dog), coordinator for annual Llewellyn grade school reunions, Wilson reunion committee. Looking for a publisher for my memoir.

My family moved into the Wilson district before my freshman year. I arrived to my first day of school in the truck my father used to haul chicken scratch and dog food to his feed store in Tigard. We were late because he had to pick up a load from the Albers Milling Company. I had just emerged from an abusive childhood and was quiet and shy and did not feel well-equipped to start a new school. I had gone to Llewellyn Grade School in SE Portland for my whole life. After my first class, a girl approached me, "I'll be your friend she said." I nearly fainted in gratitude and Patty McLain became my best friend. Overall, Wilson was a relatively good experience for me. Not everyone was friendly but there were enough friendly people to find more friends and have a good time.