Joan Marie (Habert) Chalmers

Joan Chalmers passed away peacefully at Atlantic General Hospital on December 13, 2023 in the company of her children. Joan was born Joan Marie Habert on July 12, 1930, in Charlottesville, Virginia to John Jacob Habert and Emma Habert (nee Gregersen). She was raised in Charlottesville along with her sister, Patricia, and her brother, John, until the family moved to Baltimore at the beginning of World War II.

Joan attended school graduating from Western High School in 1948, the same school where both of her daughters would eventually graduate. She worked for a time at RR Donnelly Advertising and attended Emmanuel Lutheran Church, where she would meet Charles Chalmers. She knew right away that Charles was the love of her life, and they were married on June 14, 1952.

Children followed soon after, with Coleen born in July 1953 and three more children, Beverly, Paul, and Jim, to follow over the next eighteen years. There would be a Chalmers child at Emmanuel Lutheran Christian School for 34 years.

Once the children arrived, Joan stopped working but volunteered for everything. She volunteered at ELCS, often as classroom mother. She volunteered in the church office. She was in the Ladies' Guild, sometimes making promotional appearances on television. When Beverly was in the Brownies and Girl Scouts, Joan was a Girl Scout Leader. When Paul joined the Cub Scouts, Joan was a Den Mother. She sewed clothes and blankets for many organizations and shopped for discounted clothing for Can Too. In her limited free time, Joan enjoyed mysteries, reading them by the stack.

Along with Charlie, Joan raised her children, providing them with a happy home. As her nephew once recalled, she gave the best bear hugs. Joan was there when each child married and started new families and gave her grandchildren. In 2022, Joan and Charlie celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, it would be their last, as Charlie passed away at 95 in August.

Once Charlie had passed, Joan's medical issues, which she had held off almost by sheer force of will while she cared for Charlie, finally caught up to her. She spent much of her last 16 months in hospitals or rehab centers. Despite this ordeal, her spirit, her faith, and her love of Charlie and those around her never waivered. She might be in intense pain, but she still charmed those around her. The staff of the assisted living facility where she spent her last months and even at her final hospital thought of Joan as one of their favorites. Now, Joan's suffering has ended, and she is at peace and reunited with her beloved Charlie.

Joan is survived by her four children and their spouses - Coleen and Charlie Jacobson, Beverly and Bill Jester, Paul and Katherine Chalmers, and Jim and Alicia Chalmers - eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren with another on the way. She also leaves a brother, John Habert, a sister, Patricia Pfannenstiel, ten nieces and nephews, and many great-nieces and nephews.

Please consider a donation to the Emmanuel Lutheran Church at 929 Ingleside Avenue, Baltimore MD 21228, the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department , or the Hospice Foundation of America.