Jeanne Kay Voshel Roberts

Jeanne Kay Voshel Roberts passed away Monday afternoon, March 20, 2006. Services will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, March 25, 2006 in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home. Internment will be Monday, March 27, 2006 in Pulaski, Virginia. Visitation will be Friday evening, March 24, 2006 from 6 – 8 p.m. at McCullough Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to the Jeanne Kay Voshel Roberts Scholarship Fund.

Jeanne, or Jeanne Kay, as she was known by her parents and their family, was born in Muskegon, Michigan. Her very early years were spent in Muskegon and in Grand Haven, Michigan, where, together with her parents, she was a member of the Second Reformed Church of Grand Haven. At the start of WW II, Jeanne’s father was called to active duty with assignments beginning at Wichita Falls, TX. During the war years, Jeanne moved with her parents to Amarillo, TX, to Denver, CO and St. Louis, MO. After WWII, Jeanne’s father was recalled to the Pentagon, where she lived in Fairfax, VA. Jeanne’s high school years began in Paris, France, her father’s assignment to SHAPE Headquarters at Fontainebleau. Jeanne then moved to Langley AFB, VA with her family, where she was graduated from Hampton High School, Hampton, VA.

Jeanne began her college studies at Hope College, Holland, MI, but then transferred to Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI where she was graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. At MSU, Jeanne became a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority.

Jeanne married Roscoe R. “Sonny” Roberts, III earlier of Pulaski, Virginia, and later of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in June 1959 in a formal military wedding ceremony at Langley AFB, from whence, as Sonny’s wife, she became an “official USAF camp follower.” Her subsequent ‘assignments’ began with Sonny’s pilot training assignments, to his initial “permanent assignment” at Pease AFB, NH, where, with her husband, she joined the Episcopal Church in Dover, New Hampshire. Sonny’s later assignments took her to Dover AFB, Dover, Delaware; Eielson AFB, near Fairbanks, Alaska; England AFB, Alexander, Louisiana; a year in Winter Park, Florida, while Sonny went to Southeast Asia for his first combat tour of duty; then to Castle AFB, Merced, California.

Next, Jeanne came to Robins AFB, Warner Robins, GA where she lived during Sonny’s assignment as a B-52 aircrew commander with the 19th Bomb Wing, and, lastly, his “close-out” assignment at the Headquarters, USAF Reserves, Robins AFB.

During one of Sonny’s B-52 assignments to Southeast Asia with the 19th Bomb Wing, Jeanne brought their children to join him in Thailand, where she, with their children, spent the summer immersed in and learning a dramatically different culture. Sonny retired in 1978, and with him, Jeanne built a house in Warner Robins where she lived until her death.

Although Jeanne worked as a temporary/substitute teacher throughout her “camp-following” years, she did not begin her full-time teaching until after her arrival at Robins AFB. She began her teaching at the Robins Elementary School, where she was its Principal for the past ten years.

While at Robins Elementary School, Jeanne obtained her Masters in Education degree, Cum Laude at Georgia College, Milledgeville, Georgia, and her Specialist in Education degree, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. In 1983 at the University of Georgia, Jeanne was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

Jeanne’s interests included the history of the American Founding and the American Civil War, gardening, plus her “backyard wildlife refuge” for ‘neighborhood’ raccoons, possums, and wild birds. Her favorite hobby was light house history and their exploration, and collecting miniature models of lighthouses, especially those of the Great Lakes and of the southeastern seaboard of the United States. Jeanne’s special interest in lighthouses gave rise to her use of them as a symbol for her students “to light the way.”

Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents Nelson C. Voshel and Dorothy H. Bolt Voshel, both of Grand Haven, Michigan.

Jeanne’s survivors include her husband, Roscoe Russell “Sonny” Roberts III, Warner Robins; daughter Chandelle Marie Roberts, Grand Haven, Michigan and Warner Robins, Georgia; sons, Kevin Mark Roberts (Donna Veader), Birmingham, Alabama; Brett Kenton Roberts, Georgia and Michigan; granddaughters, Amanda Claire Roberts, Rachel Brittney Klein-Roberts, Carolyn Jeanne Roberts, and Natalie Voshel Roberts; great-granddaughter, Madison Claire Roberts.


Funeral Home:
McCullough Funeral Home
417 S. Houston Lake Rd.
Warner Robins, GA
US 31088