Jeannette Carolyn Josephine Johnson

Jeannette C. J. Johnson

January 26, 1930 - June 10, 2026

Jeannette Carolyn Josephine Johnson, nee Pearson, 96, died Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Sioux City.

Services will be Monday, June 22, at 10:30 a.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 South Lakeport, Sioux City, with Pastors Russell Senstad and David Zirpel officiating. Interment will be in Graceland Park Cemetery, Sioux City. Visitation will be Sunday, June 21, from 4 to 7 p.m., with the family present from 4-6 p.m., and Prayer Service at 6 p.m. at the church. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.Christysmith.com.

Jeannette was born January 26, 1930, in Galesburg, Illinois, to Roy H.E. and Jennie O., nee Palmquist, Pearson, Sr. She was baptized on April 13, 1930, by the Rev. C.E. Bengtson at First Lutheran Church in Galesburg where she was an active member. She attended Galesburg Public Schools and realized when she was twelve years old that she would like to be a librarian. Jeannette volunteered in her junior high and high school libraries, graduating from Galesburg High School in 1947.

She continued her education at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, worked at the college library circulation desk, and graduated in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Jeannette then enrolled in the University of Illinois, Champaign, earning her master’s degree in library science in 1952.

After graduation, Jeannette was employed for two years as an elementary school librarian for the Galesburg Public Schools, traveling to a different city or rural school library every day. In 1954, she married fellow Augustana alum, Harland D. Johnson, and moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Harland, during the Korean War, was stationed at Fort Lewis. In Tacoma, Jeannette was hired as the first salaried elementary school librarian in the Tacoma Public Schools. A travelling librarian, she went to different schools every day to encourage that rooms be designated as libraries and to teach students how to use libraries.

In 1955, after Harland was honorably discharged from the army, the couple moved to Sioux City, Harland’s hometown, where he joined his father in business at Johnson Hardware, Inc. Jeannette took a job as reference librarian at the Sioux City Public Library. When Jeannette was approached at the library by the principal of Bryant Elementary School looking for someone to start the first library in his school, Jeannette accepted the invitation.

The Bryant Elementary School library was the size of a large closet with children waiting in line to come in. Word of Jeannette’s work spread, and she then was recruited by Whittier Elementary School to begin a school library. There she organized volunteers from the PTA to process books while she catalogued them. While Jeannette’s family was growing, she volunteered to start the Joy Elementary School Library, again organizing PTA volunteers to begin the library.

Jeannette was a past member of Augustana Lutheran Church where she volunteered in the church library and belonged to the women’s organization and circle. Jeannette joined Redeemer Lutheran Church in 1969 where she was a member of the women’s organization and circle. In 1973 the Chair of Redeemer’s Board of Education asked Jeanette to start a church library. This invitation became for Jeannette over 50 years of dedicated library ministry with the children, members, both young and old, and pastors of the congregation.

Jeannette was an active member of the national Lutheran Church Library Association (LCLA), serving as President from 2001-2002. She had previously served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President. Jeannette organized the Siouxland (Iowa) Chapter of the LCLA which included twelve churches near Sioux City.

Jeannette served on the Board of Directors for the Sioux City Symphony Association; belonged to PEO Chapter HZ, where she served as Chaplain for many years; and belonged to the Sioux City Women’s Club, the American Association of University Women, the Swedish Vasa club, Friends of the Sioux City Public Library, the Sunrise Manor Guild, and the Iowa Library Association.

Survivors include four children, Lynnette Schroeder (Dana) of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania; Sylvia Johnson of Sioux City, Bruce Johnson (Janine) of Berthoud, Colorado; and Yvonne Johnson (Lizhou Liu) of Savannah, Georgia; nine grandchildren, Christopher Schroeder, Emily Hohlbein, Joshua Hanyang, Julia Gabrielson, Teagan Johnson, Sheyda Johnson, Beiwen Liu, Olivia Johnson-Liu, and Oskar Johnson-Liu; and three great-grandchildren, Henry, Hudson, and Harlan Hohlbein.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harland; her parents, Roy H.E. and Jennie O. Pearson, Sr.; her sister, Kathryn M. E. Pearson, and her brothers, Roy H.E. Pearson, Jr., and C. Richard E. Pearson.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Redeemer Lutheran Church.