Bob was born in 1932 in Birch Hills, Saskatchewan to Jim and Polly Johnston, homsteaders in the Springrove district near Domremy. Jim had been a logger, farmed on the homestead and eventually became a carpenter. Bob went to elementary school in Birch Hills, and his parents relocated to Saskatoon in 1943, partly so that Bob could go to university. This was a remarkable sacrifice.
Jan was born in Rosetown, Saskatchewan in 1935. Her parents, Duncan and Jenny Walker had emigrated from Scotland. They farmed north of Rosetown. It is a tribute to their hard work that their farm thrived during the Depression, when others were having trouble. Jan initially atteneded a rural one-room school but transferred to town and graduated from high school there with a medal in science proficiency.
Bob always liked school and entered the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan and graduated with a B.Ed. in 1954. He taught in Birch Hills and in Oxbow, before joining the Saskatoon Public School system as an elementary vice-principal at Queen Elizabeth School.
Jan entered the College of Commerce, largely to please her dad, but she soon found that she disliked accounting and decided to go to Teachers College. Her first school was Queen Elizabeth, as a Grade Two teacher, where she met vice-principal Bob. Their romance flourished and they were married.
Ongoing education had been a life-long passion for both of them. Bob achieved his M.Ed. and Janet her Ed.D., including consulting on Internship and Student Teachings to Cambridge University in England. A second shared passion has been extensive travel.
In 1994, they moved to Gibson on the Sunshine Coast. They have enjoyed living in BC, but still feel a strong attachment to Saskatchewan and wish to thank Saskatoon Community Foundation for providing a method by which they can provide some financial support on an ongoing basis for worthwhile activities in their home province.