Obituary of Helen Frances Chapman

With great sadness, we announce the passing on May 8th 2020 of Helen Frances Chapman at Ina Grafton Gage Nursing Home in her 93rd year. She is survived by her daughter Celeste (Peter), son Ken (Jane), four grandchildren Stephen (Darcie), Kristen (Andre), Josh (Ali), Greg and three great-grandchildren (Marcus, Matthew, Cameron). From a large family of modest means, Helen overcame more than her share of adversities. A young widow (Rosario Petti) and single mother of two, she later remarried and together with the late Harold Frank Chapman, her husband of 55 years, watched over and cared for a growing close-knit family. Denied a formal education herself, she watched with great pride the graduations and career successes of her children and grandchildren. She will be remembered for many things – handknit Christmas stockings, gnocchi made from scratch, innumerable home improvement projects and, of course, her perseverance. It took a global pandemic, no less, to bring this long and productive life to a close. For a time, it seemed as though she might defeat even this dreadful illness and like many other families we watched from a distance and exhorted through phone calls and Skype calls. We would like to express our thanks to the wonderful staff at Ina Grafton Gage for their efforts, not only in these last few days but for her entire stay at her new home. We are grateful that when we could not be present, you held up the iPad, held the phone to her ear or with your own words assured her that she was not alone. At a later date, a celebration of life will be held. In lieu of flowers, we think it would appeal to our mother’s pragmatism and her instinct to feed us at every opportunity that donations be made to The Daily Bread Food Bank in her name or to a charity of your choice.