Jeannette Garber

1927 - 2022

Jeannette Hall Garber, 95, of Kalamazoo, Mich., passed away Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Herbert Nathaniel Garber, in 2003; and siblings, brother, the Rev. Winfield Hall; and sisters, Mary Jo Long and Francis Craft.

Born Feb. 17, 1927, in Chicago, Ill., Jeannette was the daughter of the late Dr. Albert and Reba Hall. She earned her bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., majoring in English. Her first job out of college was working for the Good Teeth Council for Children as a puppeteer, traveling around the country giving puppet shows to children about dental hygiene. She then moved to New York City, where she met and married Herbert Garber, who was a classical musician. Herbert's musical career took them from New York to Hartford, Conn., then Tulsa, Okla., and Berwyn, Ill. During that time, Jeannette furthered her education with coursework at Chicago Teachers' College and, when the couple returned to New York, she completed her master's degree in linguistics at the Teachers' College of Columbia University.

Jeannette and Herbert settled in Wilkes-Barre in 1965 when Herbert joined the music faculty of Wilkes University, then Wilkes College. Jeannette taught part-time at Wilkes College and at Misericordia College in elementary education before joining the faculty of Wyoming Seminary Day School in Kingston, where she taught the third Grade for 20 years.

Jeannette was a lifelong musician, finding her passion on the viola. The date of her first viola performance was a noteworthy one, as the concert was interrupted to announce the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. She played the viola wherever she went in her travels, playing in orchestras as well as chamber groups. In Wilkes-Barre, Jeannette played with many groups, most notably the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, where she was the longest standing orchestra member of 34 years. She also played with numerous other groups such as the Wilkes-Barre Oratorio Society, the Williamsport and Bloomsburg Orchestras and the Birch Hill Consort chamber group.

Jeannette had a lifelong connection to West Michigan because her paternal grandfather, Dr. Winfield Scott Hall, purchased wooded property on Stearns Bayou in Grand Haven, Mich., in 1900. Each summer, she visited the family cottage, enjoying the beauty of its trees, water, sky and sand. She moved to Michigan full-time in 2017 to live at Friendship Village in Kalamazoo.

Jeannette was an avid reader and a lifelong proponent of equal rights, particularly women's issues. To that end, she was a member of PEO, a national organization dedicated to the furthering of women's education. She remained connected to it, receiving a 60-year pin just prior to her death.

Surviving are her daughters, Sharon, Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Laura, Collingswood, N.J.; granddaughters, Shelby and Darci; and nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, at at KIVA auditorium at Friendship Village Kalamazoo, Mich.

Memorial donations for Jeannette Hall Garber may be made to the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, 26533 Network Place, Chicago, IL 60673-1286, with checks made payable to the Foundation for Women's Cancer.