Alice Champlin

1919 - 2021

Alice Ethel Parlette Champlin, 101, died in Warren on Thursday (July 22, 2021).
Born Nov. 24, 1919 in Fairmont, W.Va., she was the second youngest of Charles Clarence and Lizzie Amanda (Heaney) Parlette's ten children. All of them preceded her in death.
Alice married CWO William A. Champlin of the U.S. Army Air Force on March 15, 1944, who preceded her in death on May 12, 2000. They were married for over 56 years.
Alice attended Fairmont State Teachers College from 1939 until her studies were interrupted by WWII. While in college, she was a member of the Gamma Chi sorority. Later in life, Alice and other family members established the Heaney Family Descendants Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships for qualified students attending Fairmont State University.
Early in 1942, Alice moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a "government girl" for the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing and met her husband. Bill remained in the service after the war. Alice and the children joined him at his assignments on the East Coast and in Japan. When he was stationed at the Pentagon, the family lived on South Post, Fort Meyer, Va.
In 1956, the family moved to the Town of Somerset, Md. For over a decade, Alice worked for the Health and Education Services in Bethesda, Md. where she served as Corporate Secretary.
Alice lived in Somerset until 2017 when she moved to the Rouse Suites in Youngsville.
Alice was devoted to and supportive of her family, her friends, her church, and her community. She served for seven years on the Town of Somerset's Town Council. In 1957, the family joined the parish of All Saints Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase, Md. Alice taught Sunday School, was President of the Women of All Saints, served on the vestry, chaired many festivals, was a member of many committees and guilds, and she was a contributing editor of The Episcopalian. Alice is a past member of the Chevy Chase, Maryland chapter of The Daughters of the American Revolution
US Senator Joseph M. Montoya, his wife Della, their family in New Mexico and Alice were all devoted friends. Della and Alice often travelled together. Alice did what she could to promote and support the Senator and other candidates.
Alice had many friends and some of them created informal groups. In the Town of Somerset, she was a "39er"-neighborhood women who socialized together in the 1960's and 70's. "Thirty-nine" proclaimed the age to which they would admit. "Les Girls" was a group of close friends from All Saints Church that often met at restaurants and in each other's homes. Upon moving to Warren in 2017, Alice was welcomed as a member of the Woman's Club of Warren. She particularly enjoyed the company of the members and the club's events.
Alice was a frequent and knowledgeable patron of sales, thrift shops, and antique stores. She would go alone, but preferred the company of family and friends on her forays.
Despite her devotion and service to family and friends, Alice found time for her many hobbies-including gardening, crocheting, and genealogy. In 1983, years of research and work culminated in Alice's editing and printing what has become a treasured reference--A History of Our Heaney Family.


Family records dating back to the 1700s establish that Alice was the first and only relative in our genealogical history to live for a century. In 2019, family and friends from around the country gathered in Warren to celebrate her 100th birthday with her. Alice would have been 102 in November.
Alice died the day before the 75th Annual Heaney Family Reunion. She was missed.
Alice is survived by her four children, William Frederick Champlin (Judy), Jay Flint Champlin, Norma Catherine Champlin and Elizabeth Ellen Champlin; seven grandchildren, William Samuel Champlin, Nicholas Hamilton Champlin, Blaine Scott Champlin, Sarah Champlin Blackburn, Christian August Geske, Philip William Geske, and Aleksander Kameron Geske; four great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
A Celebration of Life will be held from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, at the Conewango Club, 201 Market Street, Warren, PA., followed by a luncheon. On a date not yet determined, there will be a Memorial Service at All Saints Church in Chevy Chase, MD., followed by interment in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. Those wishing to place a memorial may do so through a charity of one's choice. Those wishing to submit email condolences may do so by visiting www.lewisfuneralhomeinc.com
The Donald E. Lewis Funeral Home, Inc., Warren, PA. has been entrusted with funeral arrangements.