DULCIE CHAPMAN

CHAPMAN Dulcie entered this earth in her parents' home in Hardin, MO, on April 25, 1922 the 3rd born of 6 girls. She left with God on July 31, 2012 from her home in Kansas City, MO, with her daughter at her side. She was a woman of many hats and many names. Those names were Dulcie, Butch, Doc, Mom and Grami. When Pearl Harbor was bombed she and her sister, Evelyn were fixing the outhouse for winter. Dulcie felt she had to do something to help her country. She came to Kansas City and applied for a job with North American Aviation where she became Rosie the Riveter by riveting the wings of B25s. After the war she worked for Emery Bird Thayer and from there went to work at Southwestern Bell Telephone. Dulcie worked for 'Ma Bell' for 36 years in different capacities. After retirement, she and her husband, JR, drove to Hardin every day to tend the garden they had built on family ground, visit her mother, Duchess, in the nursing home and to fish. She babysat her granddaughters, Samantha and Jaime, for the first 2 years of their lives. Dulcie continued going to the farm every day until she broke her neck in 2005 at which time she could no longer drive. She moved to Kendallwood Hills Estates in 2006, making many friends until her pulmonary condition and dementia forced her to move back to her own home of 60 years with her daughter. Dulcie was a most generous woman. Everyone loved her homemade bread and noodles which she learned from her mother. Family and neighbors benefited greatly from the love of her garden by receiving gifts of corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions and green beans. Dulcie loved to water ski even though she was scared to death of the water, always wearing a ski belt and life jacket at the same time. She learned to slalom and said days before she left us, 'I would love to ski again. That was so much fun.' She taught that fun to her daughter and many nieces and nephews. Each year her entire family consisting of her parents, sisters and their families would go to the lake for a week of fishing, swimming, boating and skiing, with a Friday night fish fry bringing everyone together. Neighbors could set their watches by her daily walks with her little dog, Jewel. They knew they were late for work if they saw her walking. She made many friends on those daily walks and often commented, 'I didn't know that person knew me.' Dulcie was a very strong and strong- willed person. The day she broke her neck she thought she would be fine and refused paramedics taking her to the hospital. When she did relent to going her injuries were very serious, possibly fatal or, at minimum, paralyzing. The only incapacity after surgery was her neck being stiff. She had to move to Kendallwood Hills Estates where there were no steps because she could not afford to fall again. She always attended bingo to the surprise of her entire family. People would often stop at her home and ask 'what happened to that lady that used to live here.' Neighbors and people walking commented on how she was always outside from sunup to sundown working in her yard on her flowers, tomatoes and peppers she had planted there as well. They were amazed by how hard she worked, especially doing things she shouldn't, like cleaning out the gutters of her home. She loved blowing snow in the winter and even blew off 2 other neighbors' drives and then did her own. Dulcie was predeceased by her husband of 28 years, Roy Chapman, Jr., her sisters Evelyn Jones and Mary Ellen Stevens. She continues to watch over her daughter, Cathy Chapman; granddaughters, Samantha and Jaime Weakley; sisters, Blanche Zorn, Betty Placke and Barbara Jolly; and Steven Weakley who 'will always be my son-in-law,' along with many nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life and spirit will be held 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 at the north shelter house, Oak Grove Park in Gladstone, MO. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Hardin United Methodist Church, Crossroads Hospice Charitable Foundation, Shepherds Center of the Northland or an organization of the donor's choice. Cremation has been entrusted with Meyers Northland Chapel. Memories of Dulcie and condolences to the family may be sent to www.meyersfuneralchapel.com M