Janis Kafton Collection on Klamath County, Oregon Schools, 1905-1998

Janis Kafton was a Klamath County educator and amateur historian. She and her husband William were active volunteers and supporters of the Klamath County Museum and the Klamath County Historical Society. In 1988 William and Janis Kafton received the National Community Service Award from the American Association of Retired Persons due to their outstanding volunteering and contributions to the community.

Janis Blackman was born April 15, 1919 in Weleetka, Oklahoma. Her family moved to the Klamath Basin in Oregon to take up farming when she was very young. She and her five siblings attended Henley grade school and high school. After graduation in 1938, Janis attended Ashland Normal School and in 1940 began teaching in Klamath Falls, Oregon where she met William Kafton. They were married in December of 1940. Together they had two daughters, Sharon and Linda, and a son, Eddie. Janis was a stay-at-home mother and a homemaker until 1955 when she resumed teaching.

After William’s death in 1988, it became Janis’s passion to continue volunteering and collecting extensive research in several areas regarding Klamath County. Janis served on the Klamath County Museum Board, Klamath County Historical Society, and the Landmark Commission Board. Janis Kafton died on February 6, 2002.