Jeanne Lobeck

Jeanne Catherine (Schroder) Lobeck of Evansville, mother of four, lifelong gardener and birder, died March 22, 2022, in North River Health Campus at the age of 97. She was born to John and Catherine Schroder March 13, 1925, in Long Island City, NY.

Although raised in the city, Jeanne found her calling after moving to the “wilds” of Indiana with her husband Walter G. “Sonny” Lobeck Jr. Her love of nature sustained her throughout her life and was passed on to her children.

There probably isn't a bird in the Midwest that Jeanne couldn’t identify by sight, and most she knew simply by their songs. The cute chickadee became her favorite, though; its likeness etched on her front door.

Her acre of ground in Evansville, at 6100 Feltman Drive, brimmed with perennials, trees, bushes -- all things green -- down its slopes. Her bright pink azaleas, grown over-large after years of care, were a sign of spring that neighbors would visit. Her bird books were diaries, scribbled, often in red ink, with seasonal information as extensive as a scientist’s. Her children could look out the kitchen window any time of the day to see the variety of birds that came to the feeders. No matter the weather, Jeanne made her daily rounds to ensure there were seeds, peanut butter, and maybe a suet treat or nuts. Eventually she had a blind in the side yard where she could hunker down and take photos.

Country life included the animals, too. She nurtured all wildings: the birds, but also deer, foxes, even groundhogs (to the dismay of her husband when one collapsed the wall of the barn). With singular patience, she coaxed generations of raccoons, and even the birds, to eat from her hand. Neighbors often would stroll through her acre of gardens and, not infrequently, bring sick birds or plants for healing.

Away from home, she, her husband and younger children traveled to sites all over the United States, but stayed in nature as they camped along the way.

Although it might seem so, Jeanne was not solitary. She had a pixie sense of fun, and a sharp wit that bloomed around people. Nonetheless, her time in her yard at the edge of the woods, the very special natural world she created there for all living things, remain her hallmark.

For years, a poem hung on her kitchen wall. It starts: “I meant to do my work today,

But a brown bird sang in the apple tree … And all the leaves were calling me …”

In remembrance of Jeanne, perhaps you might revisit nature: a walk in the woods, a Sunday stroll in the park, joy in the scent of a flower, a laugh at a squirrel, a quiet moment to listen to birdsong. You will find her there.

She is survived by four children: Karen Lobeck Brass (Dr. Daniel Brass) of Jessamine County, KY, Jenny Lobeck Brown (the late Kenneth Brown Jr.) of Sussex, NJ, Walter Lobeck III (life partner Denise DeWilde) of Las Vegas, and Sarah Lobeck (life partner John Mark Parker) of Evansville; sister, Therese Schroder Shirley (the late Ed Shirley) of Morganton, NC.; sister-in-law Emily Schroder of San Diego (the late John Shroder). Also, grandchildren, Kenneth Brown III of Sussex, NJ; Michael Brown (Cara Linette) of Sussex, NJ; Kelly Lobeck Harper (Jason) of Las Vegas; and Kyle Lobeck (Natalie Pasquale Lobeck) of Los Angeles; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Walter.

Visitation will be at 11 A.M. Friday, April 1, at Alexander Funeral Home - North Chapel, 4200 Stringtown Road, with funeral at 1 P.M. Family graveside services will follow at New Salam Campground Cemetery. The funeral service will be viewable via livestream at www.facebook.com/FuneralStreamUSA

Memorial contributions may be made to Vanderburgh Humane Society https://www.vhslifesaver.org/ , and Friends of Audubon park , and https://friendsofaudubon.org, Henderson.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.AlexanderNorthChapel.com.

The family would like to thank North River and Heart to Heart Hospice for their help and caring.