Wanda M. Chrysler

Wanda was born October 24, 1931 in St. Petersburg, Florida, the daughter of Harry Clark Albert and Wanda Marie Morris. She fell asleep in the Lord at her home in Marathon on November 19, 2025. She was 94.

She was predeceased by her husband of 71 years, Eugene Lewis Chrysler and grandchildren, Deborah, Phoebe, and Jeremiah "Jai" Caldwell, and son-in-law, Rev. David Caldwell, who were struck by a drunk driver as they returned from a church function, and grandson Stephen Richard Chrysler, who died from injuries sustained in a car accident. She is survived by the last of seven siblings, sister Joan Carol Adams of Panama City, Florida. Her legacy carries on through her adult children, Charles Eugene Chrysler and wife Gail, Richard Lee Chrysler, Thomas Clark Chrysler and wife Doreen, all of Marathon, Peggy Jean (and husband, Chris) Heichel of Lebanon, PA, Kym Marie BenYaakov of Hadera, Israel, and Peter Albert Chrysler and wife Misty, of Spring City, PA; 29 grandchildren; many great grandchildren, and several great-great grandchildren.

Several months after graduating from St. Petersburg High School, Wanda moved to Binghamton by herself to live on her own. She got a job at Sears and Roebucks, and rented a small apartment from a distant cousin of her father. While there, she became friends with Sami Chrysler and her boyfriend, Bruce Abbey. Sami introduced Wanda to her brother and future husband, Gene.

Growing up, Wanda always said there were only two kinds of men she would never consider marrying: a farmer, or a sailor. Gene did not fit the bill as a prospect, as he was both. A Navy veteran of WWII, and now, a boatswain's mate on the USS New Jersey, that was being retrofitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in preparation to go to battle in the Korean War. And his life's dream was to start his own farm one day, once his Navy career was over.

On weekend leaves from Brooklyn, Gene would take a train home to Binghamton to visit family, and that is when he met Wanda. Their attraction to one another was instant. They had a whirlwind romance and were married three months later, just before Gene headed off to sea, and into battle. After the war was over and Gene was discharged from the Navy, they proceeded in purchasing a farm in Marathon, and built it into a large thriving business. Wanda's love for Gene transcended her inner suspicions and wariness of sailors, as well as her aversion to farm life, and together lived a life worthy of a romance novel. In the 60's, Route 81 was constructed that isolated much of the farm from necessary land, eventually forcing its closure.

It's impossible to focus solely on Wanda's life, without recognizing that her life was so intertwined with that of her husband, and vice versa, that they were as one. Gene and Wanda were the last of the "Great Generation". They lived a storied life, from running the farm after Gene finished his military service, to overcoming adversities thrown their way over their lifetime together. Over those years, they started various businesses, and built a homestead with nothing more than blood, sweat, grit, a "can do" spirit, and unstoppable determination. Throughout their lives, they experienced great joys, but also were dealt sorrow in tragedies, while leaning on each other for support. In their senior years when most people retired to a slower, more tranquil life, they turned it up a notch and built and ran a successful Bed and Breakfast for the next 20 years. Yet, busy as they were, they made time for themselves to travel and explore the world together, and acted like two lovestruck teenagers, until their last days together.

Wanda was very artistic and an incredible seamstress, who made beautiful wedding gowns, bridesmaids' gowns, and a variety of seemingly impossible designs. She made dresses from scratch (without a pattern) for her granddaughters, and knitted and crocheted exotic dresses for Barbie dolls to hand down to her granddaughters when they were young, and made large stuffed puppies for kids that they would carry around like a security blanket. She also created pictures with tiles that adorned many of the rooms throughout the home. As a child growing up in Florida during the Great Depression, she taught herself to sew and made all her own clothes that she wore to school. When she graduated from the high school with hundreds in her graduation class in St. Petersburg, she won two awards, which were charms to be added to a charm bracelet that was popular in those days: a sewing machine for being the best student seamstress, and a typewriter for being the fastest typer in her class. Always looking to keep busy and help with the family finances, she started and ran the business, "Wanda's World of Fabrics" during the 80's and 90's, and continued sewing into her early 90's.

Wanda's life was lived to the fullest. A devout Christian woman, with an unwavering faith in God and her Savior, Jesus. She was kind, loving, compassionate, and devoted to her family, as well as a relentless worker, a prayer warrior, and faithful follower of God's word. She was driven by a lifelong goal to live up to the challenge of fulfilling her role epitomizing the "virtuous woman", as described in Proverbs, and in so doing, exhibited the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians. She clung to her life's verse found in Romans 8:28, "that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord". Through her life, she left an inspiring example of how to live by those words. She finished her course, but this is not the end of her story as it's just the beginning of her next grand adventure. Our comfort lies in truth, "blessed are the dead who die in the Lord", Revelations 14:13.

A celebration of Wanda's life will be held December 6, at 1:00 PM, at the Marathon First Baptist Church. Burial will be in the Marathon Town Cemetery beside her husband.

The Chrysler family would like to thank Hazrat Ud and Monique Yerian for their dedicated care they gave to Wanda during the last months of her life, and the years of dedication by granddaughter Bekah Lynch who managed all of her medical needs, while offering never-ending love and emotional support.