Jean R. (Meeker) Walters

Jean M. Walters, age 90, of 106 East Lewis Street and 8500 Lower Lake Road, passed-away peacefully while surrounded by family, on Monday, April 18, 2022, at her home on Seneca Lake.

Jean, a lifelong resident of the Ithaca area, was born on December 23, 1931, the daughter of the late Ernest Joseph Meeker, Sr. and Ruth Sanford. She graduated from Southern Cayuga Central School in Genoa at 17 and, before she married, worked as an operator for New York Telephone and as a veterinary-research lab technician at Cornell. Later, she worked side-by-side with her late husband of 52 years, Dr. Verle I. Walters, in his Ithaca physical therapy practice.

Jean was a devoted mother and grandmother who truly enjoyed spending time with her family. It was out of love for her children that she became an advocate for the rights of the mentally ill, where along with her husband, co-founded the Finger Lakes Alliance for the Mentally Ill, now known as NAMI–Finger Lakes. And, through this organization, Jean gained a second family through which she could share her love.

Jean is survived by her 5 children; Dale G. of Lodi, Allen E. of Elmira, Kaye M. (David) Sill of Ithaca, Beth W. (Jerry) Emerick of Cooperstown, and Verle A. (Dawn) of Lafayette, OR; 4 of her 9 siblings, Mary M. Oltz of Ithaca, Russel J. (Mildred) Meeker of Munnsville, Hazel F. Lombardi of Elmira, and Clark S. Meeker of Groton; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great grandchildren.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, July 9, 2022, at the Ovid Federated Church, 7137 Main Street in Ovid. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to NAMI–Finger Lakes in Jean’s memory.