Lois E. (Stelley) Chapman

With thanks to: Mark, Tim, and Sarah Chapman, Ruth (Stelley) Jones, Linda Patterson, Shirley and Allen Arendt, Mark Vanhoenacker, Titia Hoeksema, Paul Chapman, Kathleen Phillips Lois Esther (Stelley) Chapman, 85, of Pittsfield, passed away peacefully on July 20, 2016 at Berkshire Medical Center. Born August 13, 1930, in Providence, RI to Orlow Stelley, electrician, and Bertha (Daniels) Stelley, seamstress, she was followed by one younger sister Ruth Edna (Stelley) Jones. Lois attended schools in Cedar Tree Point, North Kingston and Wickford, Rhode Island, graduated early from high-school and went on to graduate in 1952, magna-cum-laude, with a BA in English from Brown University’s affiliate, Pembroke College. In 1953, Lois married seminarian Paul Chapman of Keene, New Hampshire. She taught third grade in Wellesley, Massachusetts for three years, after which the couple spent a year in Europe dividing time between Switzerland and Germany. Over the following eighteen years, while raising four children, Mark, Sarah, Rachel and Tim, Lois also helped run Packard Manse, a non-denominational conference center in Stoughton, MA which brought together people across religious, racial and cultural divides for dialogue towards social justice. In this endeavor, Lois was active in the Civil Rights movement in the south in 1963 and 1964. The family travelled by freight carrier and spent a year living in an impoverished peri-urban neighborhood in Northeast Brazil in 1968. The family also enjoyed spending part of each summer on Martha’s Vineyard Island. In the following years Lois also worked as an activity coordinator at an elder care facility and sang in a community opera company chorus. Lois moved to the Netherlands between 1979 and 1989, where she held an administrative role in Balton, a trading company based in Israel. During these years she and her partner, Titia Hoeksema, enjoyed concerts, travel, skating and gardening. Lois also sang in a church choir and volunteered in a hospital. When Lois returned to the U.S., she moved to the Berkshires, where longtime friends Christine and Joseph Vanhoenacker lived, and moved to Pomeroy Avenue in Pittsfield. She volunteered for the Berkshire office of the Red Cross, and, with her Lois cheer and efficiency, was soon invaluable to everyone. As soon as a payed position became available, Lois became not only a receptionist but assisted with Service to Military Families casework, scheduled volunteers for the receptionist desk and aided the Medical Transportation, a program which she eventually took over running. After her retirement from the Red Cross, she moved to the Curtis in Lenox in 1999. In 2012, she moved to Melbourne Place in Pittsfield. Lois was active in a wide variety of community organizations during her nearly three decades in the Berkshires. She volunteered at Jacob’s Pillow, Ventfort Hall and Close Encounters with Music. She particularly enjoyed her years as a volunteer usher at Tanglewood, and made it possible for many friends and family to attend the concerts with her complimentary tickets. She also volunteered as a reading assistant in the Pittsfield Public Schools and as an English tutor to Irina, a woman from Russia, who became a dear friend. Lois loved nature, the outdoors and the scenery of the Berkshires. She enjoyed gardening at the community garden at Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield and volunteered at several community venues including Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox. She especially relished visits to both sanctuaries, hikes at Greylock Mt., Canoe Meadows and Kennedy Park where she would point out and name all the wild flowers. In the winter Lois would snowshoe and cross-country ski with friends, especially Shirley and Allen Arndt on October Mt. In Washington, MA. Lois made whatever she touched special in some small way. She maintained beautiful gardens at her Pomeroy Avenue apartment, and was a kind neighbor and owner of several sweet cats. She was also a caring and helpful neighbor to those living next door or down the hall at the Curtis Hotel in Lenox. She will be dearly missed by her friends all over Berkshire county. Lois is survived by her partner Titia Hoeksema and sister Neel Hoeksema; her children Mark Andrew Chapman, Sarah Elizabeth Chapman McDougall, Rachel Rebekah Chapman (husband James Timothy Pfeiffer), and Timothy John Chapman; her sister Ruth Edna (Stelley) Jones (husband Langhorne Jones, children Geoffrey and Elizabeth); her grandchildren Jessica Jane Mclure (husband Jeremy Michael McClure), Solea Nyelete Chapman Pfeiffer, Alexandra Elizabeth McDougall, James Archibald McDougall Jr., Joy Lynne Adamson, Paul Christopher Chapman, Lisa Amoy Chapman and Ian Michael Chapman; and great-grand-children – Madyson Jane Mclure, Brody Michael McClure, Anaycha Colon, Francisco Colon, Isley Rae Chapman, and Riley Simone; also Paul Kingsley Chapman, and extended family Mark and Jason Vanhoenacker, Linda Patterson and her sons, and a host of devoted and loving friends on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Funeral Notice: A memorial service for Lois E. Chapman will be held in the Berkshires at a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made MA Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, care of the Dwyer Funeral Home, in her memory.

Lois E. (Stelley) Chapman

August 13, 1930 - July 20, 2016