Anna Jean (Jennings) Casebolt

Ann Jean was born on February 20, 1927, in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Ana and Hary Jennings, the third of six siblings and lived in that area as a child. She attended JN Andrews school for most of her elementary and secondary education, however in her junior year she spent in Cuba, living with a family friend, to learn spanish and to broaden her experience. After graduation from JN Andrews, she attended Columbia Union College in Takoma Park for Pre-nursing classes for a year. She decided to go to California where she had relatives, for nurses training at the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, California, to earn her RN degree. There she met Gerald L. Casebolt, a junior medical student who was smitten by her beauty and long dark hair and after a brief courtship, they engaged. Anna Jean and Gerald were married in Takoma, on June 22, 1948. They returned to California to Glendale where Gerald had his internship at the Glendale Sanitarium and Hospital. Anna Jean decided to transfer to that hospital for completion of her nurses training and received her RN. They next moved to Hanford, California, where Gerald was in private practice until Gerald was called into the Army leading to duty at Bencia Arsenal for two years, during this time, a second child, Challis was born. After completing Army service, Gerald decided to specialize in Surgery and obtained a residency in the George Washington University program in Washington, D.C.; in order for Anna Jean to be near her family while Gerald was in residency. During this time, a third child, Carol was born. They than moved back to Santa Anna, California, where the fourth child, Melanie was born. The final move was to Roseburg, Oregon, where Gerald joined a clinic as a General Surgeon. Anna Jean was a loving and devoted mother. Her family was her primary focus. She also held several positions in the local Seventh Day Adventist Church, and was involved in her children’s school activities. She took great pride in her families tradition of nursing service, as both her mother and father, and three sisters were nurses. She encouraged her children to enter the medical field, and all are Nurses two of whom are Nurses practitioners. Her passion was playing the piano, and that was one of her first purchases when she was financially able, and she insisted that all her children lear to play that instrument as well as another. She was also a good sport , taking part in Gerald’s many hobbies, sometimes not enthusiastically, resulting in some of the families memorable quotations by Ann Jean as when she learned to scuba dive, but didn’t want to go in over her head in water. In later in life, the family traveled quite expensively, twice to Europe and traveled around the would twice as they volunteered in hospitals in Thailand and Rwanda, visiting many South Asia and African countries, returning through Europe. Later, volunteer work took them again to Africa, this time to Malawi, after which they visited several African countries, then to Australia where, daughter, Carol was living, and back through New Zealand and Tahiti. As home, she became surrogate mother, to her grandchildren when son, Don and wife, My Ann were at work, and has passed her philosophy to them. During the past decade, it became apparent that she was diminishing in mental capacity and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which has taken it’s inexorable toll, the last years in Callahan Memory Care Facility. She was preceded in death by her parents; older sister, Marilyn; older brother, Alfred; and younger sister, Joylyn. She is survived by a sister, Challis; a brother, Jerrilee; husband, Gerald; son, Don; daughter, Challis; Carl and Melanie and six granddaughters, Alicia, Christiania; Sabrina, Kaylie, Natalie, and Jessie and great-grandchild, Casey. She is at rest in the Lord, awaiting the first resurrection. A memorial service was held on August 10, 2008, and interment was at Roseburg Memorial Gardens.