Jeanne Faye Lamp, 84
Published 9:03 am Saturday, June 2, 2018
Jeanne Faye (Champine) Lamp, 84, of Grand Meadow, Minnesota, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, at Grand Meadow Health Care.
Jeanne was born March 7, 1934, to George Lloyd (“Colonel”) and Grace Ellen (Myers) Champine on the farm near Ceylon, Minnesota, that her great-grandparents, Charles and Lucretia (Tiffany) Champine had homesteaded in 1877. The family still owns the farm and has the original homestead certificate, signed by then President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Jeanne Lamp, 84
Like one of her grandmothers, she was known for her beautiful red hair. She was also known for her quick wit and superb command of the English language.
Jeanne attended the first six grades at the “Champine School,” so-called because it was located on land donated by her great-grandfather. When that country school closed due to consolidation, her remaining years were at Ceylon, graduating as salutatorian in 1952.
After furthering her education at Clifton Terrace Institute in Minneapolis, she worked at Western Union offices in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Albert Lea, Minnesota. There she met her husband to be, Robert Arlo Lamp, who was a depot agent with the Milwaukee Railroad. They were married Jan. 1, 1954, in Ceylon and moved to Vienna, South Dakota, where he continued as a depot agent. Their first son was born while there.
Jeanne and family moved to Grand Meadow in 1955. Her husband was the Milwaukee Railroad depot agent and she was a stay-at-home mom for a number of years. She then worked in the business office at Community Memorial Hospital in Spring Valley, Minnesota, for eight years before taking a position as cashier with Minnesota First, also in Spring Valley. Although it was almost unheard of at the time to have a female in the position, she soon became branch bank manager, a position she held for 19 years before taking early retirement. Shortly after that, she assumed a part-time position as a proofreader and typesetter with the Spring Valley Tribune, a job in which she took great joy.
While continuing to work at the Tribune, she took on the monumental job of retyping the 1976 history of Grand Meadow, “Of Days That Used To Be,” by Harriett Torgrimson. She helped author Marceil Skifter incorporate and update it through 2012 into the revised version, “What a Grand Meadow,” a strictly volunteer labor of love that took several years. During this time she also proofread and edited the book “A Minnesota Life and Sports” by author Jon Laging.
Jeanne was well known in the Spring Valley area for her involvement in community affairs, including being secretary of the Chamber of Commerce for a number of years and one of the first female members of the formerly all-male Kiwanis Club. Very shortly after joining that organization, she was asked to become secretary-treasurer and held that position for nearly 20 years. Jeanne was known throughout the Minnesota-Dakotas Kiwanis District as “the glue that holds the Spring Valley Kiwanis Club together.”
Survivors include four sons, Dean (Lynne) of Northfield, Minnesota, Dale of Bloomington, Minnesota, Greg (Meghan) of Grand Meadow, and Michael (Lisa) of Adams, Minnesota; one daughter, Laurie (Kevin) Kallinen of Silver Bay, Minnesota; one brother, Robert (Lois) Champine of Ceylon; one sister, Marilyn Will of Northfield; nine grandsons; one granddaughter; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert, in 2017; four brothers, Donald Champine of polio at age 13, Ray (Sara) Champine and Jerry Champine, both in 2015, and Veryl (Cheryl) Champine in 2018; and one sister-in-law, Cheryl Champine, in 2017.
Jeanne’s body was donated to Mayo Clinic for research. Being the mother of five children, Jeanne was always a very giving person in life and now in death she continues to give of herself. In respect for her wishes, private family services will be held. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Grand Meadow Lions Club Foundation, the Grand Meadow Area Ambulance, or to the donor’s choice.