Lockwood, Eileen 1934-2025 St. Joseph, Mo.

Eileen Chamberlain Lockwood, a freelance writer and journalist, died on June 22, 2025, at Benedictine Living Community in St. Joseph. She was 91 years old. Eileen was born on Feb. 20, 1934, in Schenectady, New York, to Irving Joseph Chamberlain and Rhea Alice Rea Chamberlain.

She graduated from the former Nott Terrace High School, in Schenectady, then received a degree in journalism from Syracuse University in 1955. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and was tapped for membership in junior and senior women’s honoraries and for Phi Beta Kappa. She sang with SU’s Catholic Choir and was a foreign student guide.

But her major “job” in college was with the student newspaper, the Syracuse Daily Orange, where she met her future husband, George J. Lockwood. She became the managing editor during her senior year. She worked for two summers as a reporter for the then Schenectady Union-Star. After their marriage on Sept. 3, 1955, Eileen and George moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she became a reporter at both the Minneapolis Tribune and Minneapolis Star (now Star-Tribune) while George studied for his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota.

During a short residence in Chicago, Illinois, she was an assistant editor at The Modern Hospital magazine (now Modern Healthcare). Then the couple relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they lived for 30 years and raised four children. George eventually became a managing editor at the then Milwaukee Journal. In the meantime, Eileen worked as a freelance writer, spent eight years as public relations coordinator for the International Institute of Milwaukee, where her main job was promoting the annual Holiday Folk Fair, a festival of nations. She then resumed freelance work, producing articles for more than 40 magazines, newspapers and corporate publications. She also was hired in a public relations capacity to promote two individual ethnic events in Milwaukee, Polish Fest for three years and the International Latvian Song Festival in 1983 when it took place in Milwaukee. For three years, after moving to St. Joseph in 1990, she handled public relations for St. Joseph’s annual Trails West! Festival. George served as executive editor of the St. Joseph News-Press for five years until 1995. The couple also lived briefly in both Huntington, West Virginia, and Baton Rouge, Louisianna, where he was a journalism professor at Marshall University and Louisiana State University.

Two long-term writing assignments for Eileen came from Destinations, a magazine for bus tour operators, and PracticeLink, distributed to doctors throughout the U.S. While writing for Destinations, she had travel assignments in all but two states. She also wrote articles about other countries for newspapers and travel publications. After many years of research work for stories, she joked that she was about to receive her A-1 detective license. She added that being a reporter was also a license to snoop.

George and Eileen were extensive travelers on their own, visiting many states and some 40 countries in Europe and Asia, as well as Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Eileen also became involved in volunteer work, especially with classical music organizations in both Milwaukee and St. Joseph, the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Chamber Music Society and St. Joseph Symphony. She was a long-time usher at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where she also joined a church study group whose members became involved in other charity work.

Eileen was preceded in death by her parents and husband, George.

She is survived by her four children: Audrey (Kittredge Cherry), Los Angeles, California, Cary (Carole) and Noah (Kristin) of Phoenix, Arizona, and Jason (Steven Bloom) of Cairns, Australia; as well as three grandchildren, Zoe (Anthony Garza), Paige (Austin Guerrero), and Zachary (Samantha) Lockwood, all of Phoenix; and one great-grandchild due in December.

Eileen leaves behind a rich legacy of journalistic achievement and integrity, as well being a superlative mother and grandmother.

Memorial service and interment will be on Sept. 13 at Mountain View Funeral Home in Mesa, Arizona. Memorial donations may be made to the St. Joseph Symphony in St. Joseph.

Online guest book and obituary at www.meierhoffer.com. As published in the St. Joseph News-Press.