The Greatest Woman

If you knew her, there would be no question. She was strong, determined, funny and proud (sometimes too proud but we all have something). In the course of her life she raised 5 children, worked, sang, and lived a life that was committed to god. She raised her children to do the same.

Her life was not easy. She survived a brother, a sister, two husbands and 1 child. She lost a set of twins in the womb and lived to raise a set alone but for the help of her other children. I remember her standing at an ironing board doing other peoples laundry. She ironed and hummed and watch Adventure Road on the TV set while gently fold the clothes of others (she could not afford to buy for herself), neatly pack them up in a laundry basket and deliver them back to whomever owned them, all for $2.25. This was how she fed and kept her family.

As a child I never heard her complain. But I would often see her cry. They weren't sad tears I don't think. We would get all spruced up to go to school for PICTURE DAY. In those days it mattered what you looked like when you went to school. Several weeks later we would run home with the proofs and show them to mom. She would sit and cry as she paged through each collection. She could not afford to purchase them but she could enjoy them as she looked through them.

My dad had died several months before we were born. It was a hard time for her, losing a spouse and trying to raise a set of newborn sons. She could have been angry. She could have been bitter. Nobody would have blamed her. She wasn't. She spent the next 10 years convincing her new charges that their father was a wonderful man who would be proud of them both. Many nights I went to sleep comforted by the thunder knowing Dad was deeply engaged in a bowling tournament with God, but he could see us. That was her story. To this day I love a thunderstorm and I imagine....

Well that's a bit of her resume, an entrance interview if you will. What follows is a bit of her exit interview.

01/21/2004 Plain Dealer Newspaper
Zenia Chappell

Memorial services for Zenia Chappell, 90, of Mentor, will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 8751 Kirtland Road, Kirtland. Graveside services will be 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Mentor Cemetery (Section 16).

Mrs. Chappell died Jan. 17, 2004, at Lake West Hospital in Willoughby. Born Nov. 9, 1913, in Cleveland, she lived in Mentor for the past 50 years.She was a member of Lake County Sweet Adelines and was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels for many years. She was formerly active in the Eastlake and Mentor senior centers and loved bowling.Mrs. Chappell was a clerk in the Finance Department for the City of Painesville for 15 years before her retirement.

Survivors are her children, David Chappell of Leroy Township, Karen Smith of Streetsboro, James (Mary) Chappell of Riverbank, Calif. and John (Christine) Chappell of Kirtland; 16 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.

Her husband, Ralph Clinton Chappell; daughter, Naomi Chapell; parents, Mike and Olga Gnetetski; brother, John Myron; and sister, Pauline Grinkevich, are deceased.

There will be no calling hours. The family suggests contributions to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 5786 Heisley Road, Mentor 44060. Arrangements are being handled by Davis Trust 100 Funeral Home in Willoughby.


End of article....

All that's left to be said is this: I know as she approached the pearly gates there was a loud trumpet sound, a royal receiving line, and Jesus. He looked into her tired eyes and said softly, "Well Done" and escorted her into my dads waiting arms. They are together again, just as it should be.

These are, after all, the musings of a mind that wanders