Jean Ingram Stockdale loved to give tours of Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community in Cranberry. She was not only showing off her home, but the fruits of her own hard work and vision.
In the late '70s, Jean joined a group of women friends who came up with the idea of bringing a new concept in retirement living to the Pittsburgh area, a place where people could lead active, productive lives in their later years and receive medical care.
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The group set about making their dream a reality, forming a Board, hammering out details of the facility's design, buying 83 acres on which to build and posting a bond issue to finance the project. Jean had a hand in the community's original interior design. It was among the first "retirement communities" in western Pennsylvania.
In 1982, Sherwood Oaks opened with about 40 residents. Today, about 400 residents live there. Jean and her husband moved to Sherwood Oaks in 1984. She brought her energy to many areas of the community and served as President of The Residents' Association.
She also helped found the Sherwood Oaks employee scholarship fund and served on a committee that handled memorial donations.
Jean graduated from the former Edgewood High School, attended Oberlin College and graduated from National College of Education, which is now National Louis University. She was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh in Oakland, where she taught Sunday school and served on the church council.
She was a kindergarten teacher in the Pittsburgh public school system until her marriage to Craig Stockdale in 1955. The couple lived in the Blackridge section of Wilkinsburg, where she was active in civic affairs and was an Officer of the Blackridge Garden Club.
Craig died in 2000. Jean passed away on April 14, 2006. She was 80.
The fund supports educational projects in Allegheny County with preference given to the City of Pittsburgh.
Type of Fund
- Field of Interest