Dawn Marie Chalmers

Dawn Marie Chalmers was born August 6, 1958, to Merle Eugene and Anna Marie Chalmers. She was the first of four children - sisters Karen Sue & Connie Renee and brother Mark Alan. She was born in Manhattan, Kansas. She lived in Denison, Kansas during her early childhood before her family moved to Topeka, Kansas where she lived for the remainder of her life.

Dawn graduated from Indian Creek Elementary, Northern Hills Junior High, and Seaman High School (1976). She received her LPN at VoTech in Topeka, KS in 1977. She worked at Federal Home Loan Bank for most of her career and also the Payless Shoesource corporate office for some time.

She attended church regularly and was an avid follower of Jesus. She was baptized in the faith in 1986 and raised her children in the church. She was a member of Fairlawn Nazarene Church at the time of her passing.

In 1980 she married Mike Lamberson and gave birth to her first child in January 1982, a son named Jamie Michael. Three years later in May of 1985 she gave birth to twin daughters, Mandi Dawn & Megan Anne. Dawn's biggest passion and love in life were children, especially her own, but most of all her grandchildren. She welcomed her first granddaughter Lexi Marie in January 2010, her second granddaughter Annie Grace in January 2012, and her third granddaughter Evie Hope in May 2015.

Dawn loved to bowl and played on many teams over the years. She made quilts and sewed - she was quite the seamstress. She made several of her own clothes in her earlier years but when she had her twin girls, she really put those sewing skills to work making them numerous outfits and dresses. She was well known for her creative abilities and craftiness - especially her handmade cards and gifts that her friends and family will get to treasure for a lifetime.

She had her children involved in everything - 4H, Boy Scouts, soccer, music, basketball, drill team (dance), crafts, volunteering, cross country, and track & field. She volunteered in their classrooms, joined them for lunches, hosted team dinners and never missed an extra curricular activity. Even as a single mom she always found a way to make it to every half time dance performance, music recital, game, or track meet. She saved every grade card her children had, every tooth they lost, every newspaper article they were in… she held EVERY memory.

She was an amazing helping hand. Some of her children's fondest memories are the adventures she'd take them on volunteering around town to places such as the Topeka Rescue Mission and Meals on Wheels. They especially loved caroling for the meals on wheels folks during the holidays.

Dawn's latest love was her adopted dog Phoebe. She adopted Phoebe around the time she was battling breast cancer and they immediately became best friends. Phoebe traveled around with her everywhere. Phoebe proceeded Dawn in death but they will share a final resting place forever together in Rochester Cemetery.

Dawn was a gentle and impossibly kind soul. She was a source of light and held a warmth and grace for everyone she came in contact with. Her compassion and kindness made a mark on this world and she made it a better place for it. She will be incredibly missed but her memory will live on through her family forever.

We are very blessed to have had such a wonderful woman as our mother. How lucky are we to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard… until we see each other again Momma ❤️ we will love you forever!