Janet Chubb

Janet Chubb (Huston) went to be with the Lord on February 26, 2022 at the age of 86 after a 12-year bout with Alzheimer’s plus complexity from COVID. She was born in St. Lawrence hospital in Lansing, Michigan on August 8, 1935 to Edward and Agnes Huston (Klein). Janet is preceded in death by her younger brother, Fred Huston and younger sister, Joan Toman (Huston). Janet met her husband-to-be, Bruce Chubb in the first grade and they have been sweethearts ever since – a total of 80 years. They were classmates going through the Lansing Public School System up to 12th grade graduation together in June 1953. They were both members of the National Honor Society. Janet went into nursing school at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital where she achieved her Cap, with honors, to become an RN. Bruce entered Engineering School at Michigan State. At age 19 they were married at Mt. Hope Methodist Church in Lansing. Janet worked the first year as a teletype operator and after the first 15 months of marriage had their first child, Susan, born in Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital at which time Janet’s full time lifetime occupation became being a terrific wife and homemaker. They had their second and last child, Sandra, in 1959 in New Jersey while Bruce was an officer in the US Army Signal Corps. With military service completed, they moved to Grand Rapids where Bruce began his career in Avionics with Lear Inc. which became Lear Siegler and then Smiths Industries. Continuing his education while working, he earned Master’s and Doctor’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering and worked his way up to Vice President of Engineering and then Research and Development at Smiths Industries. Once both daughters started school, Janet performed volunteer work in a wide range of activities including church, 8-years teaching Earth Science and Animal/Plant Preservation at a Nature Center. After receiving extensive psychological training and in science of human behavior, Janet worked as a Crisis Hot-Line Operator handling everything including broken loves to those attempting suicide, drug overdose and alcoholism. Janet was extremely active in the Michigan Athletic Club including weekly use of their exercise/body-building equipment. A special and very significant part of Janet’s and Bruce’s life has been the creation of the Sunset Valley Model Railroad. Sunset Valley has been featured in a hundred publications and is a museum-quality masterpiece known world-wide. Janet gave many presentations at Regional and National Model Railroad Conventions throughout the United States covering “how to make your love grow as the hobby grows”. The results have been reported to have enhanced and even saved marriages from divorce and frequently improving parent-child relationships. During Bruce’s career at Smiths Industries, many national and international clients were entertained by Janet and Bruce by visiting the Sunset Valley Railroad including clients from eighteen different countries around the world. Janet’s lifelong love of people and animals is evident to every person and creature who crossed paths with Janet. A memorial service to celebrate Janet’s immeasurable impact on her family and the model railroading community, and others too will be held 11:00 am on September 22, 2022, at MKD Funeral Home, 4646 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Kentwood.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Art, Science, History of American Railroading Association, the non-profit tax-exempt Michigan Corporation charged with creating and operating a permanent museum home for the Sunset Valley Railroad. Details about the project and instructions for making a contribution can be found within the www.ashara.org website. Janet and Bruce are donating the vast majority of their life’s savings to the preservation of the Sunset Valley via ASHARA, and, if you choose to, you can add your support by making a donation to ASHARA’s Museum Project in Janet’s memory.

Details for attending the Sunset Valley Open House following the Memorial Service and extending through Friday and Saturday, September 23-24 will be handed out at the Memorial Service and can be found on the ashara.org website. Condolences may be sent online to www.mkdfuneralhome.com