Eleanor May Jannsen

Ellie Jannsen was born as Eleanor May White on a special spring day,
April 22, 1927, in Arlington, Massachusetts.  The White side of her family had lived in the Boston area since the mid-1800’s and Ellie grew up in the vicinity of Lexington.  In those early years her mother modeled the importance of a relationship with the Lord and faithfully escorted all six of her children to church many miles away by transfers on buses, streetcars, and trains.  Being the eldest child, Ellie took over this responsibility during periods of time that her mother could not.  One night, this all became very personal when Ellie realized that Jesus had died not just for all, but for her.  Upon seeing this she jumped out of bed, got on her knees, and asked Him to be her Savior.  That changed the direction of her life on earth and of course her eternal destination as well.

Ellie’s childhood memories include the following:

Playing tennis—either with a partner or just hitting the ball for hours against the barn wall.

Reading—especially enjoyable up in a tree where she would not be disturbed.

Skiing down local farmers’ hills.

Ice skating on frozen ponds.

Playing in the barn.

Horseback riding with Aunt Ollie.

Riding bikes into Concord for the annual commemoration of Paul Revere’s ride and one of the opening battles of the Revolutionary War.

She graduated from Lexington High School in 1945 where she had played basketball and field hockey.  After high school Ellie attended Massachusetts State Teachers College before moving to Chicago and enrolled at Wheaton College.  There Ellie has said, she grew only a little academically, but much in her relationship with the Lord.  It was there that she met Jim Elliot and many others like him with a zeal for serving God.  Serving the Lord became the theme of her life.

She left Chicago because her job transferred her to New York City.  But really, it was the Lord who transferred her there, because it was while in New York that she met a handsome naval officer from Oregon named Dave Jannsen.  On June 6, 1953 she became his wife and his companion for the next 60 years.  They lived the first two years of their life together in New York where she gave birth to their first child, Steve.   Upon discharge from the Navy, Dave moved his small family back out to Clackamas and soon their first daughter, Lois, was born.  They also began attending 87 ^th Ave. Bible Chapel which later became Laurel Park Bible Chapel.  There they would fellowship and serve together in many ways and for many years.  Her son, Brian, was born in 1957.  In 1960 she became homemaker in a new house in Portland that Dave built for their growing family.  Her youngest daughter, Connie, was born in 1966.  So, from the mid-1950’s until the mid-80’s, she devoted herself to raising her four children and focused on meeting their needs.  Of course it didn’t end there because soon there were grandchildren and then great-grand children to encourage and nurture.  Even though computer was a far distant second language for her, she worked hard to learn how to email and Skype to keep in contact with kinfolk living far away.

Ellie’s serving of others didn’t stop at the boundary of family.  Starting when her kids were young and continuing for the following 50 years, she ministered to the spiritual needs of countless people as she led kids clubs, Bible studies, and PREP classes, which is a Bible class held during school hours for students.  Many of the Bible studies were for women only.  But she also hosted and participated in co-ed home fellowship groups with her husband.  For decades she counseled and spoke at Eagle Fern Camp and Shiloh Bible Camp and she continued to work with PREP when she was well into her 80’s.

Ellie moved in 1998 to a new home one block away from the Jannsen family homestead in Clackamas, which was also one block from her daughters, Lois and Connie, and their families.  This made it even more convenient to be involved in the lives of the nearby grandchildren.

She loved reading, gardening, traveling, and sports.  She played tennis, walked, and cross country skied.  Participation in some of those sports slowed down when she had a hip replaced, but she soon found other activities to take their place.  What didn’t slow down much was her enthusiasm and commitment to ministry and she remained involved with PREP at a location closer to her home in Clackamas.

After surgery and treatment for cancer in summer 2014, she eventually contracted pneumonia and died peacefully on February 17, 2015.  On that day, Ellie left for her permanent home with her Lord and Savior—the One whom she served so faithfully for so many years.