Imogene Denny Hobbs, retired teacher, dies at 99

Imogene Denny Hobbs, a retired teacher, died on Sunday, April 3, 2022. She was 99.

She was born on Dec. 19, 1922, in West Chester, the first daughter of the late Harold Plummer Denny and Rosannah Cuyler Denny. She was affectionately known by her family as “Jeanie.” On March 24, 1924, her parents had a second daughter, Jacqueline, completing the family of four.

She attended the Gay Street School, graduated from West Chester High School in 1940, and earned her undergraduate degree in primary education from West Chester State Teachers’ College (now West Chester University) in 1944.

While attending West Chester State, she met and married Wilbur Eugene Hobbs. The couple remained married until his death in 1992. Throughout their lives together, they lived in Chester County, Delaware County and Philadelphia.

Her life as an educator began at the Gay Street School under the leadership and mentorship of the principal, Joseph R. Fugett. She was a second-grade teacher and reading specialist. She later taught in the Philadelphia Public School District and the Wilmington, Delaware, school district. She retired from the Philadelphia School District in 1982.

Her spiritual life was demonstrated by her commitment to West Chester’s Chapel of the Ascension and later to the Church of the Holy Trinity. At Holy Trinity, Hobbs was a member of the Bell Choir, expressing her love of musical performance and communication.

Hobbs was also an accomplished pianist and pen-and-ink sketch and watercolor artist. During her retirement, she enjoyed creating needlepoint and cross-stitch pieces for herself as well as friends and family. She especially enjoyed attending rehearsals and performances of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center.

“We remember Jeanie as a loving mother, aunt, sister, daughter, mother-in-law and friend,” her family said in a tribute. “Those who passed through her classrooms remember her as a caring and patient teacher who provided foundational educational support in their earliest school years. We miss her greatly but find comfort in knowing that her soul is now in God’s warm embrace and the embrace of her ancestors.”

She is survived by her son, Wilbur Hobbs Jr.; daughter-in-law, Carolyn; niece, Harriet Lynn Starr; the family of her late life companion, Junius “Bob” Haith; and other family members and friends.

Services will be held on Saturday, May 21, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 212 S. High St., West Chester.

Services begin at 2 p.m.

DeBaptiste Funeral Homes handled the arrangements.