Gene Teeter, 86, St. Joseph, Missouri, passed away Monday, February 20, 2023.
She was born on April 6, 1936, to Calvin and Myrtle (Smith) VanLoon in Knoxville, Iowa.
She graduated from Knoxville High School and went on to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Home Economics Education and Speech and Social Sciences from Iowa State University. Later she earned her master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from Northwest Missouri State University. While in college, after competing in the Miss Iowa pageant, she was set up on a blind date on Valentine’s Day with John Teeter. On June 16, 1957, they were married. They shared 65 years of adventures together.
In 1970 they moved to St. Joseph and joined the Ashland United Methodist Church. Gene and John traveled to all fifty states, China, and Eastern and Western Europe. They lived in Florida for ten years, where she was a dedicated member of the Cypress Lake Methodist Church in Fort Myers. After moving back to Missouri, she became reinvolved in the Ashland United Methodist Church and was a very active member of their different organizations. Gene was also a proud member of the P.E.O. International, a philanthropic educational organization, she was a Golden Girl (fifty-year member), and a past president of her local chapter.
Gene was a very accomplished woman. She taught in three different states over twenty-eight years, including Iowa (one year), Illinois (five years) and Missouri (twenty-two years). She taught Home Economics, English, Social Sciences and P.E. For over twenty years, Gene worked as a guidance counselor for the Savannah School District. She was honored as Northwest Missouri Secondary School Counselor of the Year and Missouri State Secondary School Counselor of the Year. Gene was a member of the Savannah School Board, former PTA president, and member of the Missouri State PTA Board, along with several other educational committees and associations.
Gene loved to golf, play Mahjong and bridge, and read her favorite books.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Survivors include her husband, John of St. Joseph, MO; daughter, Stephany Newport (Kent) of Overland Park, KS; grandchildren, Emily Wixted (Sean) of Geneva, IL, and Jackson Newport of Overland Park, KS; great-grandson, Jonah Wixted; sister-in-law, Donna Arand of Algona, IA; and extended family.
Farewell Services and Public Livestream 1:00 P.M. Friday, Ashland United Methodist Church. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will gather with friends 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Thursday, Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory.
