Batavia - Jeanne E. Haber, 97, of Batavia joined God’s heavenly choir May 24 where she resided at Le Roy Village Green nursing home.
Born September 21, 1925 in Batavia, she was the daughter of the late Marion F. and Jennie Winegar Ingalsbe.
Following graduation from Corfu High School she was accepted into the nurses’ training program at Wyoming County Community Hospital which provided her the opportunity to work at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. While in New York she met her future husband whom she married October 18, 1947 on his twenty-third birthday.
Called home to care for her ailing mother she began her western New York registered nursing career at the former St. Jerome Hospital prior to becoming part of the nursing staff at the former Genesee Memorial Hospital. After dedicating heart and soul to her patients for more than forty years she retired in 1986 from the Genesee County Health Department as a visiting nurse. Her love of nursing never diminished in retirement as she was instrumental in founding Hospice in Genesee County, sat on its board as one of the first members, served as a volunteer for ten years and was named Genesee County American Cancer Society’s Nurse Hope.
Outside of nursing her other great passion was singing. From the age of three years old her voice could be heard in churches, weddings too numerous to recount (including two of her daughters) and funerals. Plus she thoroughly enjoyed performing in several Rotary show productions. Her favorite and most-requested song was His Eye is on the Sparrow which earned her the nickname of “bird lady” in the community. And as a great lover of the United States and the American flag she cherished every opportunity to “belt out” the National Anthem. She was a member of Genesee Country Church in Oakfield.
She is survived by daughters, Carole Haber of Brookline, Massachusetts, Donna Jean (John) Herbert of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and Nancy (Matt) Paul of Manchester, Georgia; grandson Sean Widlake of Brookline, Massachusetts; and several nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband of sixty-seven years, John B. Haber, brothers Carlton Ingalsbe and Earl Ingalsbe and sisters Hazel Murchison, Evelyn Schultz and Aleatha Scroger.
A Celebration of Life memorial service will be held at a future date at Genesee Country Church, 3268 Drake Street Road, Oakfield. A private burial, at the convenience of the immediate family, will be in Grand View Cemetery, Batavia. In lieu of flowers memorials are suggested to Crossroads House, 11 Liberty Street, Batavia, 14021.
Arrangements were entrusted to the H.E. Turner & Co. Funeral Home in Batavia. Please leave a condolence, share a story, or light a candle at www.bataviafuneralhomes.com.
