Paula Monte Chapman

Paula (Monte) Chapman
Elmira, NY
Paula (Polly), 93, departed this life on Monday, October 14th, while convalescing with her family in Indiana. Paula was born March 11, 1931, in Granville Summit, PA, the youngest of 8 children of Nicholas and Gaetana Villani Monte who immigrated to America from Italy.
Paula lived a vibrant and fully embraced life. She graduated from Elmira's South Side High School in 1949 and studied at Elmira College. After working locally for WELM and American LaFrance, Paula attended the Grace Downs School in New York City and began a career as an airline stewardess first with Pan American World Airways, and later with Capital Airlines. Her flying career took her all over the western hemisphere in the 1950s and 1960s. After leaving flying, Paula entered the world of advertising and public relations with Hutchins Advertising, Rochester NY, where she was involved with projects for many prominent Rochester based and nationally known corporations, as well as the team who coordinated the opening of Bristol Mountain ski resort. It was during her time at Hutchins that Paula met Capt. Melvin Chapman, an Odessa NY native, who owned CT based Atlantic Aircraft and Marine / ChapAir and who was the charter pilot for her company's travel club trip to Cape Cod. It was on this trip that Polly employed her former stewardess skills, went to the aircraft galley, organized a tray of refreshments, and showed up in the cockpit offering the flight crew "coffee, tea, or milk", immediately gaining the attention of the pilot. They married in 1968. Polly never lost her love for flying, even after Delta lost her in Detroit in 2022. Paula then worked independently doing freelance public relations, travel agent activities, and most importantly to her, being the most amazing mother to her son. In later years she assisted her brother Joe Monte at the El Monte Inn in Fisherville NY and was active at the Chemung County Historical Society and Steele Memorial Library.
Polly was predeceased by her husband Melvin Newton Chapman who passed away in 1978; her parents, brothers Joseph Monte and Leiber Monte, and sisters Lucy (Monte) Neidzwski, Carmella (Monte) Colton, Manuella (Monte) Muccigrosso, Kathryn Monte, and Antoinette Monte. She was the last remaining member of the many first generation of Monte and Saracino cousins born in America.
Paula is survived by her son, Melvin (Kristina) Newton Chapman II of Mishawaka IN, stepson Markus Willis Chapman of Missoula MT; grandchildren Lauren and Parker Chapman; nieces Roxann Margeson of Horseheads, Anna-Marie (Anthony) Rydzewski of Hazelton PA, John (Ann-Marie) Neidzwski of NJ, Daniel (Debbie) Colton and James (Brenda) Colton of Granville & Canton PA, dozens of great nieces and nephews, whom she was always delighted to see; lifelong friends Edith Tallman of Newfield NY, and Lois Winslow of Rochester, and many other friends, especially the dear members of the Elmira Garden Club.
Paula was a longtime member of The Most Holy Name of Jesus parish at St Mary's Southside, a lifetime member of the VFW Auxiliary, and an active member until recently of the Elmira Garden Club, an organization which she was truly passionate about.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary's Southside, Elmira, NY on Saturday, March 15, 2024 at 12 noon. Those wishing to remember and emulate Paula's generosity are encouraged to make contributions to the Elmira Garden Club or to the Chemung County Historical Society in her memory.
The Chapman family wants to thank the Sullivan's Funeral Home of Horseheads NY, and Baker family for their assistance in coordinating funeral activities both in Indiana and New York. Condolences and words of comfort can be viewed at Paula's Memorial page at www.bakerfamilyfuneralhome.com