02/18/2026
Jane Ellen Johnson
Jane Ellen (Barnett) Johnson, 80, passed away Monday, February 16, 2026, peacefully in her sleep in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
The visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., Sunday, February 22, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd, Waco. Graveside will be at 10:00 am on Monday, February 23, at Oakwood Cemetery, followed by the funeral service at 11:00 am at the First Baptist Church of Waco, 500 Webster Ave. A catered meal will follow.
She was born on April 2, 1945, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, to Ray and Laurine Barnett, the 2nd of their 7 children and their first daughter. Her father was stationed in the U.S. Army on the Japanese island of Okinawa during WWII when she was born, having arrived there in late 1944, and getting back home just before her 1st birthday in 1946.
Jane grew up primarily in Gentry, Arkansas, but in her early years lived in Arkadelphia (while her dad finished Ouachita Baptist University), Highfill, Lincoln, Elm Grove, OK, Siloam Springs, Gentry, and Colcord, before moving back to Gentry to begin the 7th grade. She graduated as valedictorian at Colcord in the 6th grade, and then six-years later graduated as valedictorian in her Gentry senior class in 1963. She was very popular in school, and was voted homecoming queen, most athletic, and was on the student council and National Honor Society. She had six close friends in high school, three of whom she has kept up with ever since – Viola Clower Winters, Janiece Hall Elder, and Linda Thompson Doss.
In the fall of 1963 Jane attended Ouachita Baptist University before coming back to NW Arkansas and graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1967 with a degree in Elementary Education. During the summers in college, she worked as a lifeguard, and for one year she travelled to North Carolina to be a counselor at Camp Crestridge for Girls. All through school and thereafter at the University of Arkansas she was an active member of the University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, where she later taught an adult Sunday School class for graduate students. She would later confess that was one of the most challenging experiences in life because she had to start studying the Bible on Monday to be ready to teach the next Sunday. All of this while teaching 5th graders during the day. Even though she grew up in a Southern Baptist church where her father was the pastor, and she knew all the major stories of the Bible, still she didn’t know how it all connected. So when she became an adult, she had to learn to connect the dots from beginning to end, which involved much reading and intense study.
In May of 1970 she married Jerry Johnson who was finishing his doctoral degree in Business at the University of Arkansas. Their first child, Marcus, was born in 1972. Then 2 years after that they moved to Waco, Texas, where Jerry began a 46-year teaching tenure at Baylor University, his alma mater, while Jane taught 5th grade at Provident Heights for 15 years specializing in helping students with dyslexia and ADHD. During that time their second child, Anthony, arrived in 1980.
For the last 51 years, Jane has been a faithful member of the First Baptist Church in Waco. Forty of those years she taught the 2nd grade Sunday School class. She also helped to start the Women’s Ministry with faithful weekly Bible Study groups that are still going on. She was also involved in many other ministries and missions, including GA’s (Girls Auxiliary), VBS, and handing out the first Bibles to children during church services.
Jane began her public walk with the Lord when she was 8 years old during a revival in a rural church in Elm Grove, OK, where her dad was pastoring, and was baptized with many others in a nearby pond a few days later. Later in junior high, she credits, not only her dad and Mom, but also the leaders in GA’s with helping her grow and maintain her beliefs. With little deviation, she has stayed true and faithful to the Lord ever since, as a compass needle to the north pole. She was meek and humble, not desiring the limelight, but was perfectly happy and content to be a supporting servant for the Lord. She spoke the loudest by her quiet, happy demeanor. One of her best friends of the last 50 years, Dana Jones, described Jane as the most gentle, kind, and loving spirit she has ever met. And no doubt her very best friend throughout life has been her younger sister, Mary, who has always looked up to her older and only sister as a giant in faith. She let Proverbs 31:26 describe Jane, “When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.” Mary also wanted to add that Jane greatly loved all her brothers and invested in each of them.
Jane was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry. They were married for over 50 years. She was also preceded in death by her dad and mom, Ray and Laurine Barnett; and brothers, Robert and David Barnett. With Jane gone, the void grows even larger in the Barnett family.
She is survived by her two sons, Marcus Johnson (wife, Amy), Anthony Johnson, and one grandson, Cameron, the light of her life, all of Waco, Texas; sister Mary Boxx (husband, Randy); brothers Jonathan Barnett (wife, Christy), James Barnett (wife, Marilyn), all of Siloam Springs, Arkansas; and brother Mark Barnett (wife, Sandra) of Lawrence, Kansas. She is also survived by three aunts, numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends, all of whom loved her dearly.
Donations can be made in honor of Jane Johnson to the Children’s Fund at the First Baptist Church in Waco (https://www.fbcwaco.org/give). Also, the recording of the funeral will be on this same obituary page a day or two after the funeral.
Jane’s family invites you to leave a message or memory on her "Memorial Guestbook" at www.WHBfamily.com.
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