Jessomine "Jay" Florence Johnson, aged 92, a resident of the Holmstad Retirement Community in Batavia, went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Saturday, September 29, 2012, at the Michaelsen Health Center, where she has been a resident since 1997.

Jay was born on July 15, 1920, in Fort Riley, Kansas, one of two children of Fitzhugh Lee and Gertrude Rosalind Cross. She graduated from Junction City High School in Junction City, Kansas in 1937. The previous year, she had attended a revival service at the First Baptist Church in Junction City, where she had felt called to full-time Christian service. Accordingly, she enrolled at Northwestern Bible School in Minneapolis in 1937, graduating in 1941. After graduation, she worked for a year in the Navy Department in Washington, D.C, before moving to Denver, where her family had relocated.

In Denver, Jay met Harold James Lake, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, and they were married in 1944. After Harold returned from the Pacific war, they applied to The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) and arrived in Venezuela in 1946, where they served until 1963, winning souls for Christ and building churches. After Harold's death in an automobile accident in 1963, Jay stayed with her parents in Grand Junction, Colorado for three more years while caring for her four children, and then returned to Venezuela as a single missionary in 1965, where she served until 1968.

In 1968, Jay returned to West Chicago to work at TEAM headquarters. Then, in 1979, she traveled to Spain to serve as a TEAM missionary for four years in Madrid. While in Spain, she was married again, to Harry Johnson, from Minot, North Dakota, and they retired to live in Minot. After Harry's death in 1996, she moved to the Holmstad and renewed her membership at the West Chicago Bible Church.

Throughout her adult life, Jay was active in witnessing for the Lord, teaching numerous Bible classes and helping others. These activities continued after her retirement.

Jay enjoyed writing, and she exchanged many letters and e-mails with friends and family members throughout her adult life. In 1991, she published a book about Harold Lake, her first husband, titled Don Lago. In 2002, she went on to publish a second book, titled Gertrude and Lee Cross, about the lives of her parents.

Her survivors include four children: Judy Mouser (Gilbert) of Bemidji, Minnesota; Char Horner (Louis) of Wheaton, Illinois; Roger Lake (Noriko) of San Jose, California; and Susan Becker (Steven) of Saddle Brooke, Arizona; eight grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and her brother Jim Cross (Donna) of Houston, Texas.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, October 5 at 11:00 A.M. at Water's Edge Bible Church,209 South Oakwood Avenue,West Chicago, IL 60185,(630) 231-1210. Friends may visit with the family from 9 until 11 A.M. Interment will be held at Glen Oak Cemetery in West Chicago.

Memorials may be directed to TEAM, The Holmstad or Waters Edge Bible Church.