[Cabin and Addition Donors and Namesakes]
built in 1940
in honor of
Miss Elizabeth "Bette" Chalmers
(1914-1939)
and
Robert Edwin Chalmers
(1879–1939)
ED NOTE: This page is still very much a work in progress.
Birth
Jeanette F. Clark was born April 18, 1882 in New York City NY.
Marriage and Family
She married Robert Edwin Chalmers (1879–1939). They lived in Vineland NJ. In 1914, they had one child, Elisabeth "Bette" Jean Chalmers.
Other Pursuits
In 1916, Mrs. Robert Chalmers served as secretary of a newly formed women's auxiliary to the Vineland Hospital, in Vineland NJ, the group's purpose being to "aid the institution".
In 1909, Robert Chalmers became president of the newly-formed Vineland Farmers' Exchange.
Tragedy
Bette and her father both died in a tragic accident together on March 11, 1939 when Bette was 24 or 25 and Robert was 59, just six days shy of his 60th birthday. The following year, Jeanette's 80-year-old aunt, Margaret Chalmers, was living with her.
The Chalmers Family at the FNCA
The year after her husband and daughter died, Jeanette Chalmers donated Chalmers Lodge to the FNCA for the specific use as a rec hall for the Flames, dedicating it to her daughter, who had been initiated into the Flames in 1931 at age 17, and to her husband, both of whom died in an accident together in 1939.
© FNCA 2002
Death
Jeanette Chalmers died in December of 1949 at age 67.
Robert Edwin Chalmers
(1879–1939)
Robert Edwin Chalmers was born in New Jersey on March 17, 1879 to Robert & Hannah Chalmers. He was of Scottish (father) and English (mother) descent. He had an older brother, Henry, and two younger sisters, Lilian and Mable.
He began his career as a farm laboror in 1900 at age 21. By the time he was 30 in 1909, Robert Chalmers had became president of the newly-formed Vineland Farmers' Exchange.
Just 6 days shy of is 60th birthday, he and his daughter Bette died together in an accident on March 11, 1939.