Jeanette Chambers

Jeanette Chambers of Arnold, Maryland, entered the heavenly realm when the spirit of the Lord took her to be with him on August 17, 2025 from Chesterton, Indiana. She courageously managed numerous maladies until this time.
The daughter of Etta Elizabeth Meyer Stock and Raymond Louis Stock, Jeanette was born on February 15, 1935 at the family farm home where her great-grandfather, John Stock, settled in Clinton Township, Sac County, near Wall Lake, Iowa.
She was baptized on December 4, 1935, at Wheatland Presbyterian Church near Breda, Iowa by Rev. Walters. She was confirmed on April 2, 1950, at Peace Lutheran Church in Wall Lake, Iowa by Rev. Albert Christiansen.
Jeanette attended Clinton #7, a one-room country school in Sac County, Iowa, through 5th grade. At age 12 she began keeping a daily diary, and did so throughout her life. She met her husband, John Chambers, in 1946 in 6th grade at the Lake View Junior High School when he (accidentally, of course) tripped her in the classroom. Although he acknowledged her charms, baseball and football were his greater interest, and a romantic relationship did not develop until late in their senior year, when their vocal music teacher fortuitously placed them in the roles of Anna and the King in The King and I.
Jeanette and John graduated from Lake View High School in 1953 and were married on June 23, 1957, at Peace Lutheran Church in Wall Lake, Iowa, after John's graduation from Iowa State College and commissioning in the US Navy.
Jeanette received her BA from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. She also studied at the University of Iowa, University of Rhode Island, and Loyola College of Baltimore. She received her Maryland Master's Equivalency in 1978. She was a dedicated member of the Buena Vista Alumni Association. In l976, the Buena Vista College Alumni Director nominated Jeanette for The Outstanding Young Women of America Program.
During her 43-year teaching career Jeanette taught in public, private and parochial schools at various levels from kindergarten to high school. She taught in Iowa, Florida, California, Rhode Island, Virginia and Maryland. Her last teaching position was 5th grade at Broadneck Elementary School in Arnold, Maryland, from which she retired in July 1999.
Music was a significant part of Jeanette's life. She was a member of the Buena Vista College Choir. She sang with the Berkshire Chorale International at Salzburg, Austria; Canterbury, England, plus various North American locations. She sang in numerous church choirs throughout her life. She served as a coordinator and member of the Naval Academy Protestant Chapel Chorale for many years. She played the piano throughout her life, and the clarinet in high school.
Other church service included that of lay reader, Sunday school teacher, and vacation Bible school director at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Annapolis, Maryland. Using her artistic talents, she designed a variety of church bulletins for Calvary Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.
In 1974, under the auspices of the Agency for International Development and the International Eye Foundation, Jeanette and daughters accompanied John in his work at the H.H. Ras Makonen Hospital in Harar, Ethiopia. Other volunteer work included two Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods in two years with the Chaplain's Office at the US Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, an intermediate facility between the Middle East and the US during the peak of the Iraq war.
A competitive long-distance runner, Jeanette began the sport at age 50. She competed in over 200 races from one mile to the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, including four New York City Marathons, the Chicago Marathon, and the Marine Corps Marathon. She raced in China, Thailand, Jordan, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Bermuda, Hungary, and throughout the US. She won numerous age group awards and was ranked in her age group in the Mid-Atlantic area during a racing career that continued until she was 76. In 2010 and 2011, she was the oldest female runner in the Washington, DC Cherry Blossom 10-mile race. At age 70 Jeanette and John began long distance bicycle touring, Their adventures covered Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria; across Missouri on the Katy Trail with grandsons Tim and Ben; a Tip to Tip ride on Prince Edward Island, Canada; and a ride through the Loire Valley.
After retirement, Jeanette and John took their grandsons, Tim and Ben, on many extended trips, including a self-skippered canal boat trip on the Erie Canal. They also took Tim and Ben on fishing trips to Canada and Alaska, where they explored in an RV, and flew north of the Arctic Circle. During the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, they followed the Lewis and Clark Trail from St. Louis, canoed on the Missouri River, and camped at sites where Lewis and Clark visited. They also rafted on the North Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. There were many other summer trips with Tim and Ben.
Genealogical research took Jeanette to the homelands of her ancestors in Ostfriesland, Brandenberg, and Bavaria in Germany, and the Posen district of Prussia, now Poland, and led to the publication of five books with John.
During John's naval aviation and medical careers, she traveled to all 50 states, and visited 51 countries in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. Highlight trips were to the Middle East that included a hiking trip in Israel, and a round-the-world trip that began with a race on the Great Wall of China and continued across Asia and into Europe on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
Her other interests included collecting antiques, home decorating, flowers, painting, sewing and knitting.
She is survived by her husband, John Thomas, of 68 years; daughters Sara Renee Behnke (Carl) of West Lafayette, IN, and Mary Sue Smith (Vic) of Porter Beach, IN; three grandsons, Timothy John Behnke of Sioux Falls, SD, Benjamin Albert Behnke of Phoenix, AZ, and Samuel Meyer Smith of Porter Beach, IN; brother Daniel Stock of Tabernash, CO; seven nieces and two nephews.
Preceding her in death were parents Raymond and Etta Stock; sisters LaDonna Phillips and Norma Hoeg; brothers Raymond Stock, Jr. and James Stock; nephew Michael Hoeg; and niece Jennifer Stock.