Mary Chapman

In Loving Memory
Mary Chapman

VISITATION
Sunday, September 20, 2015
12:00 - 2:00 P.M.
Martin-Mattice Funeral Home
Emmetsburg, Iowa

SERVICE
Sunday, September 20, 2015
2:00 P.M.
Martin-Mattice Funeral Home
Emmetsburg, Iowa

CLERGY
Rev. Louie Q. Gallo
First United Methodist Church
Emmetsburg, Iowa

INTERMENT
Evergreen Cemetery
Emmetsburg, Iowa

Mary Kathryn Chapman was born on June 7, 1915, to John and Margaret (Kliegl) Goeders on a farm east of Emmetsburg. She attended a country school and graduated from high school in Cylinder. After earning her certificate to teach, Mary taught country school for one year. On June 7, 1935, she married Ronald Chapman. They farmed for five years near Emmetsburg before moving to a farm near Ruthven in 1940. There they raised their five children and began to establish a dairy herd of registered Holstein cattle on what would become known as Hawkeye Dairy Farm. Mary and Ronald were both 4-H leaders for over twenty years, involving all of their children in the home making activities of 4-H, as well as grooming and showing cattle at county, district and State Fairs. They were truly a team, and inspired in their children a deep love for all creation, as well as the value of work.

Mary loved to entertain. She welcomed everyone into her home for "a cup of coffee." She was the essence of hospitality. Little children loved her and she always had something special baked for them. Nothing made her happier than having the whole family around the table for Holiday dinners. Her energy seemed boundless as she prepared for these memorable times together.

Mary was a long-time member of the Frist United Methodist Church in Emmetsburg. She belonged to the United Methodist Women (UMW) and the P.A.L.S. (Pals) Circle. She was a "behind the scenes" worker in the kitchen; helping with funeral dinners, wedding receptions and fund raisers for missions. She received s special Missions Recognition Award from the UMW for her work in this area, as she helped to make her home town a better place in which to live.

Active in the Pythian Sisters fraternal organization for over forty years, Mary served as Iowa Grand Chief of Pythian Sisters in the 1970's and was still active into the early 1990's.

Mary also enjoyed traveling with her husband, Ronald in his work as a dairy judge and herd classifier for the National Holstein Fresian Association in the 1960's-1980's. She accompanied him to South America, Puerto Rico and throughout the United Sates. But to both Mary and Ronald there was "no place like home."

Mary Kathryn Chapman, 100, passed from this life on September 15, 2015, at the Emmetsburg Care Center in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Left to cherish her memory are her children, Dolores "Dode" (Bob) Tanner of Clear Lake; Arlene Brennan (Jim Berry) of Iowa City; Juanita Helmke of Emmetsburg; Ron, Jr. (Sandi) Chapman of Emmetsburg; and Marietta (Mike) Flannegan of Emmetsburg. Also missing their "Grandma Chapman" will be eight grandchildren; eighteen great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild; as well as many nieces and nephews with fond memories of "Aunt Mary".

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, eight brothers and sisters, her husband, Ronald, in 1993; a grandson, Douglas Tanner; a granddaughter, Sondra Rademacher; a son-in-law, Maurice "Joe" Brennan.

Arrangements by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home