LAVERNE CHAPPELL FINLAY

FINLAY LAVERNE CHAPPELL
89, of Grove City, PA, Pine Twp., Mercer County, formerly of North Hills, passed away at Orchard Manor, Grove City, on Friday, April 13, 2012. Born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County on December 3, 1922, she was the daughter of William Chappell and Verna Olive Madera Chappell. After finishing Westminster College with a business degree, she married William Finlay, aspiring dentist and naval officer. She worked as a secretary as he established his practice, and then joyfully quit for the birth of her first child, Barbara, in 1950. Twins, Kathy Witmer and William Finlay, were born less than two years later. Despite the inevitable stresses of having three children so close in age, she always described this time as the happiest in her life. The three kids, Bobbie, Kathy and Bill, began distinct in their personalities and matured in distinct directions, becoming respectively a professor, a medical technologist and a retail salesman, due in great part to their mother's tireless support for every turn of their interests and talents. She was an accomplished and frugal homemaker, busy with cooking, preserving and canning, sewing and gardening. In the early '60s, with the kids well-launched in school, she became certified as a teacher. Though she always remained a substitute teacher, she worked virtually every school day in the North Allegheny District, with multiple long-term substitute appointments. She attended the North Hills United Presbyterian Church. Church activities, school and family events, a couples' bridge club that persisted over 30 years, made up the pattern of her life. Surviving are two daughters, Barbara LaVerne Finlay of Newfield, NY, and Kathy Witmer of Landisburg, PA; a son William Finlay of Lehigh, FL; a sister Betty Kuhlber of Slippery Rock; six grandchildren (Will and Laura Vineyard, Amy, Abel, , Heidi, and Kevin Witmer); and five great-grandchildren. Memorial Services will be observed at the SMITH FUNERAL HOME, 421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock, PA 16057 on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. Family will receive friends at the funeral home from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be given to the Audubon Society, 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, or:
www.audubon.org
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