Farming was Johnsen's life

Jay L. Johnsen ~ 1923-2008

Look for a pair of tractors to be parked outside the Conley Funeral Home in Elburn this week. They include the first tractor Jay L. Johnsen ever bought, a 1946 model, as well as one he and his son purchased last spring.

They represent Mr. Johnsen's life spent in farming and his passion for soil conservancy. Mr. Johnsen passed away Thursday. The rural St. Charles resident was 84.

Mr. Johnsen grew up the son of farmers who farmed various properties in Kane County, including one of the Garfield family farms in La Fox near Geneva that he later would return to purchase.

It was along the creek on the Garfield farm where Mr. Johnsen first met a daughter from the adjacent farm, Lyla Divine, whom he would marry in 1946.

The couple farmed property near Elburn when they first married. Family members recall that in 1949 the couple bought their first herd of dairy cows and established themselves as dairy farmers.

In 1952, they moved to Elgin to farm the Zeller property, bringing with them their 90 dairy cows and some new equipment, including a bulk milk tank used for keeping the milk cool until a tank truck cleared it away.

Mr. Johnsen was the first farmer in the area to use one, his son recalls.

"I remember my dad saying that when they moved to Elgin from Elburn, it felt like they were moving to a new state," says one of their four sons, K.C. Johnsen of Batavia.

In 1960, the couple saved enough money to purchase their own farm. They bought one of the Garfield family farms, some 148 acres from Elva Garfield, who eventually would open the Garfield Farm Museum on the remaining acres in La Fox, near Elburn, to help preserve the area's farming heritage.

"My father always supported the museum's efforts and their mission of conservancy," K.C. Johnsen says, "so we'd try and hold off some of our farming operations so they would coincide with some of the museum tours."

Mr. Johnsen and his wife raised his family on that farm, where they were involved in starting local 4-H clubs as well as the Kane County Rural Youth Program.

By 1978, the couple started expanding their farm, purchasing Lyla's adjacent family farm, building their holdings to 260 acres. However, together with their son K.C., they sold all but the original Garfield farmland -- which they still farm -- in 2001 to purchase 1,000 acres near DeKalb.

"It was very hard on my parents to part with that land," their son says, "but we've got much better farmland out west. To most farmers, it's just a pipe dream to reach that magical number of 1,000 acres."

Now, the family farms a total of 2,600 acres -- mostly in soybeans and corn -- spread across three counties.

"That trip to Elgin," his son says, "doesn't seem so far."

Visitation for Mr. Johnsen will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. today before a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, both at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St. in Elburn.