Emily Lee Johnson Chappelle

1926 - 2008

Emily Lee Johnson Chappelle, 82, of Bedford, Va., passed away on Sunday, December 7, 2008, in the Bedford County Nursing Home. She was born on February 7, 1926, in Bedford County, a daughter of the late Robert Lee Johnson and Beulah Carter Johnson. She was a member of Thaxton Baptist Church and was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She was preceded in death by 17 brothers and sisters, Irene Johnson, Freddie Farley, Katie Davis, Emily Virginia Johnson, Pauline Jennings, Bettye Jane Johnson, Elmer Johnson, Hanford Johnson, Griffin Johnson, Dewey Johnson, Robert Johnson, Garland Johnson, Jason Johnson, Nelson Johnson, Morris Johnson, Jack Bennett Johnson and Kenneth Johnson. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Thomas Ashford Chappelle; two daughters and sons-in-law, Emily Jane C. and Gary E. Strebel, of Altavista, and Susan Lee C. and Christopher M. Hicks, of Bedford; a son, Kenneth Thomas Chappelle and his fiancée, Jo Ann Martin, of Lynchburg; four grandchildren, Jennifer Ashford Strebel, of Portland, Ore., Laura Ellen Strebel Ward, of Newport News, Sarah Elizabeth Hicks and David Nathaniel Hicks, both of Bedford; twin greatgrandsons, Benjamin Michael and Carter Thomas Ward, of Newport News; and a sister, Margaret J. Coffey Wecht, of Bedford. A funeral service will be conducted 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2008, at the Updike Funeral Chapel Bedford, with the Rev. Dr. Eldridge Cullum officiating. Interment will follow in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Saturday from 11 a.m. until the time of the service at Updike Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bedford and after the service for a light luncheon at the Hicks home.