Eva Jeane Johnson

Eva Jeane Johnson, age 97, of Charlotte, MI passed into the arms of Jesus of natural causes on July 29, 2016. She was the only child of the union of Sherman and Marena (Sanford) Kiplinger and was born at home on May 28, 1919 in Charlotte, Michigan. She was known as "the candy kid" where she sold penny candy at her father's store on Saturdays. Eva Jeane attended Charlotte Public Schools where her mother taught high school and she was so enlightened that she decided to become a teacher also. During her high school years she was privileged to attend Camp Miniwanca of the American Youth Foundation, in the summer on Lake Michigan. Here she learned her motto for living, "My ownself, at my very best, all the time." She graduated from high school in 1937 and was eager to push on to college. She started at Western State Teachers College (Western Michigan University), spent time at MSU, another semester at Chicago, and graduated from Western State Teachers College in 1941. During high school and college she was able to attend authors seminars headed by such distinguished authors as Amelia Earhart and Lowell Thomas. Her first year teaching was in Jackson, Michigan where a pupil in her gifted class was later to become an astronaut. Her mother introduced her to "that nice Mr. Johnson" who her mother walked home with everyday from teaching at Charlotte Schools, and her parents took the two for their first date at Win Schuler's Restaurant. Unknown to each other, Evald and Eva Jeane both graduated from Western State Teachers College in 1941. Evald was a shop teacher and Eva Jeane taught elementary school. Evald Johnson and Eva Jeane Kiplinger married on November 27, 1946 at the Lawrence Avenue Methodist Church in Charlotte. They had 3 children between late 1947 and 1953 in the 'baby boomer years'. They were fond of taking trips with the family. One of the most memorable trips was a whirlwind trip out west that was a short 2 weeks with 3 children, a dog and a cat in a Ford Falcon Van with 2 sleeping levels built in. Eva Jeane had a sense of humor and wrote about this trip in her diaries. When she read it out loud she laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. Evald passed away on February 14, 1978. Eva Jeane retired in 1983 after 30 years of teaching, mostly in Delton Kellogg Schools. She even taught at a one-room school house, North Pine which is now part of Bernard Museum, where she was a lifetime member. In her retirement she volunteered at the Delton Public Library. She had many friends at the library, in teaching and from Charlotte. She traveled extensively in her retirement, starting at age 62, and had been all over the world. She had been to China, Russia, Europe, Egypt and the Middle East, the Scandinavian Countries, Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains and even met her childhood pen pal in Brazil. She enjoyed her 33 years of retirement traveling with her friends. Surviving her are her children: Sigrid Johncock, Peter (Christine) Johnson, Eric (Cindy) Johnson, 13 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren. At Eva Jeane's request there is to be no funeral and cremation has taken place. Eva Jeane and Evald Johnson's cremains are to be interred at Maple Hill Cemetery, Charlotte, MI on the west side of section H with a rite of burial on Sunday, August 21, 2016 at 2 PM and the public is invited. Memorial contributions may be made to Delton Library, Bernard Museum or Grace Hospice. If your heart is hurting it is because she took a little piece of it with her. Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Directors - South.