Real estate luminaries receive national press

Seven local real estate agents recently garnered national attention in the The National Relocation and Real Estate Magazine, which named them among the "500 Most Powerful Women in Real Estate and Relocation for 1999."

All seven work for Carol Jones, Realtors, and their names read like a who's who of Springfield area real estate. Jane Chenoweth, Donna Crosby, Dorothy Jacobi, Carol Jones, Beverly Stenger, Letty Van Kleeck and Indy Wallace are profiled below.

Jane Chenoweth

A certified residential specialist, graduate of the Realtor Institute, accredited buyers representative, lifetime member of the Million Dollar, Multimillion Dollar and Carol Jones President's clubs, Jane Chenoweth holds a master's degree in real estate and has been in the business for 16 years.

With Carol Jones, Realtors, since 1987, Chenoweth specializes in Springfield metro residential properties and hobby farms and has sold $7.2 million in volume through Nov. 4 of this year.

Chenoweth said her interest in real estate began with her personal experience of relocation, learning about the business from a professional Realtor. "Later, I found myself involved in estate planning of our family farms and discovered much more about real estate transactions. After that I concluded that I would be a Realtor."

Chenoweth calls the "information age" one of the most exciting challenges for today's Realtor. "Keeping in step with technology brings us daily changes in financing, as well as market inventory, thus allowing better service for our clients, which is the big positive."

Married to her high school sweetheart, Jim, Chenoweth has three sons and five grandchildren. She and her husband enjoy traveling, and "church and its activities have always been the center of our lives." Chenoweth has chaired committees of the Springfield Board of Realtors.

Donna L. Crosby

The managing broker for the Highland Springs office of Carol Jones, Realtors, Donna L. Crosby is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar and Multimillion Dollar clubs, a member of the Carol Jones President's Club and the Springfield Board of Realtors.

A real estate agent for 16 years, exclusively with Carol Jones, Crosby achieved sales of $5.3 million in 1998. The mother of four pursued real estate as a career because of the flexible hours, which allowed her to care for her young son, and because of the earnings, which reflect the dedication, time and service invested

Challenges of the job are "keeping up the with changing market, including the Internet and changes in real estate regulations," Crosby said.

Serving on the advisory councils of the Southwest Missouri State University College of Arts and Letters and the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, Crosby is a member of the Springfield Ballet board and received the 1991 Springfield Area Arts Council's Ozzie Award.

Crosby enjoys travel and reading, as well as spending time with her family: husband Dr. Jim Jameson, four children and nine grandchildren.

Dorothy Jacobi

Dorothy Jacobi is a Realtor associate, member of the Carol Jones President's Club, life member of the Million Dollar Club and has received the Pinnacle Award of Excellence, the Realtor Appreciation Award and the Best of the Biggest 1994, awarded by REAL Trends Inc.

Specializing in lakefront and lakeview property on Table Rock Lake, Branson West-based Jacobi sold and closed more than $8.5 million in real estate in 1998. Licensed for 15 years and with 13 years' experience in the Tri-Lakes area, Jacobi has been with Carol Jones since 1990.

Real estate appealed to Jacobi as a career years before she was able to pursue it. "I wanted to sell real estate from the time I was 18 years old but was raising a family and could not successfully do both," she said.

Jacobi added that keeping up with changes in the law and legal requirements is the greatest challenge she faces.

Jacobi and her husband have three children two sons and a daughter and four grandchildren. She enjoys traveling, is a member of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and supports Christian Associates.

Carol D. Jones

Carol D. Jones, who founded Carol Jones, Realtors, in 1983, is a certified residential specialist with a dual focus on residential and commercial properties. Now chairman of the board of the company, which she sold to Iowa Realty in May 1994, Jones had sales of $8 million in 1998.

The company is the largest real estate company in southwest Missouri with sales in excess of $348 million.

An agent since 1967, Jones said she chose real estate as a career because "I decided commission basis is the only way women could make any money. I looked at insurance and real estate, and real estate was my choice."

Jones serves as a board member of Missouri State Bank, the Cox Hospital Advisory Board, the Springfield Public Schools Foundation, Highland Springs Country Club, the Executive Development Institute of Breech School of Business Administration at Drury College, and the Burrell Mental Health Center Foundation. Jones is also president-elect of the Performing Arts Center Board of Springfield.

Jones personally raised more than $100,000 in contributions for Ozarks Food Harvest as part of a company-wide campaign, and in 1996 she donated the 31-unit Sungardens Apartments and an adjacent single family house to the Family Violence Center and, with Federal Home Loan Bank Board of Des Moines, funded the Carol Jones Recovery Center.

Bev Stenger

Bev Stenger is an accredited buyer's representative, a member of the President's Club and a multimillion dollar producer at Carol Jones, Realtors.

Working with residential properties in Springfield, Rogersville, Nixa and Ozark, Stenger specializes in elegant homes, achieving $5 million in sales in the last year.

Stenger has been a real estate agent for five years, working exclusively with Carol Jones, Realtors, during that time.

She chose the real estate business, she said, because "I truly like people and get great satisfaction in analyzing what people want and finding it for them."

Married to Neil Stenger, Bev Stenger is the mother of three daughters, has four grandchildren, and is involved in caring for elderly parents. A member of First and Calvary Presbyterian Church, the Junior League and Hickory Hills Country Club, Stenger was one of the founders of the Springfield Ballet and the Junior Cotillion. Stenger has worked with numerous charities and done a great deal of fund-raising for a variety of organizations.

Letty VanKleeck

Letty Van Kleeck is a certified residential specialist and a Christies Great Estates affiliate who specializes in higher-end properties and unique homes. She works with single-family residences, ranches, exclusive estates and commercial properties from as far north as Columbia and as far south as Little Rock.

In the real estate business for 26 years, six with Carol Jones, Van Kleeck sold more than $16 million in real estate last year and has sales of more than $10 million for the year to date.

Van Kleeck said the reason real estate is her career is that it is "a constantly changing industry. It is very educational and service-oriented. I look at the real estate field as a service to others."

A member of the Springfield Junior League who is active in local and national politics, Van Kleeck is also a mother and grandmother.

Indy Wallace

In real estate for only three years, exclusively with Carol Jones, Indy Wallace got off to a good start as Rookie of the Year in her first year in business, garnering awards for top sales and closed sales units. By her second year, 1997-98, she was a member of the Million Dollar Club and Multimillion Dollar Club. In 1998, she achieved membership in the Carol Jones President's Club.

Wallace's sales for 1998 were nearly $8 million.

Real estate is Wallace's chosen career because "I love to see the looks on people's faces when I can give them their part in the American Dream ... to find them just the right home to suit their family's needs, especially when they have been turned down for a home in the past."

Wallace is the mother of "two beautiful daughters." In her spare time, Wallace said, "I love to go shopping with my girls and participate in their school clubs and activities."