Anne Lorean Chappell, 89, of Memphis, Texas, passed away Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Richardson, Texas.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2024, in the Memphis Church of Christ with Mark Lance officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery in Memphis with Jim Dixon officiating. Visitation will be held from 9-11 a.m. Friday, May 17, 2024, at the funeral home. Arrangements are by Robertson Funeral Directors of Memphis.
Anne Lorean Young was born Nov. 7, 1934, in Ventura, Calif. to Thomas Swain and Helen Lorean Beard Young. They lived in California for several years during the Great Depression, moving several times in search of work, like many families.
The family decided to move away from the coast of California back to the safety of Texas after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Following her parents’ divorce in the late 1940s, Anne lived with her father in Hope, N.M., where she graduated from high school in 1951 in a graduating class of five.
She later returned to live with her mother in Memphis. There, she met Colbert Taylor “CT” Chappell, and they married on June 19, 1953. At first, they lived on Anne’s mother’s family ranch with CT working wherever he could and raising chickens for both meat and eggs. After Michael was born, they moved into Memphis. Once CT gained full-time employment, they purchased their first house for $6,500. They had been married for over 68 years when CT passed away in 2022.
Anne began her married life as a full-time homemaker and mother to her two sons, Michael and Phillip. She worked to embody all things expected as a wife and mother, coordinating everything from dinner to homemade Halloween costumes to leading Scout meetings.
She often spoke with some pride about making all of the boys’ clothes until they started school and even some items after that. Later, about 1966, after working for the telephone company, she decided to return to college and earn a bachelor’s degree in education while still raising her two young sons.
Becoming a teacher like her mother was one of Anne’s proudest achievements. She loved teaching, and for the rest of her life, enjoyed sharing anecdotes of her students and their accomplishments.
She enjoyed reconnecting with her former students on social media after she retired. Indeed, such exchanges were often the high points of her days. Although she often complained about her failing memory in later years, she could recount stories of former students and tell bright and cheerful stories of their families - oftentimes to a generation or two back.
Passionate about travel and history, Anne wanted her kids to experience both. When the boys were growing up, Anne and CT took RV trips all over the country with CT doing the driving and Anne doing the navigating while the boys slept, read or fought in the back seat! They loved to camp, to play cards, dominos and board games and to explore other walks of life.
Later, they continued this tradition with their grandchildren, creating adventures along the interstates and backroads. Anne always made sure that some grape juice and unleavened bread went on every trip, because if a church couldn’t be found while traveling on Sunday, they would just pull over and have a service in the trailer or RV.
After the boys left home, Anne and CT’s RV trips took on another focus - finding long lost relatives. They drove all over the country, tracking down ancestors in cemeteries all over the south. Anne took great pride in finding ancestors and was able to trace them back for several generations. She loved to connect with relatives near and far and share her knowledge from her extensive research. She coordinated many gatherings of cousins from various family groups to foster learning about shared history and ancestry.
This love for genealogy inspired Anne to write two books - one on the Youngs and one on the Chappells. She was proud of being recognized at one of the Chappell reunions for their appreciation for her work on the Chappell history. Anne sometimes joked that she enjoyed visiting dead relatives almost as much as the live ones.
Anne spent most of her adult life in Memphis. She and CT were lifelong members of the Memphis Church of Christ, where she was considered to be a knowledgeable (and vocal) Biblical scholar. Bible class discussions were often the high points of her weeks. She also felt tremendous love and appreciation for the Christian family at Morningside. She tried to help in Morningside’s work in any way that she could.
Anne and CT were also members of the Fairview Cemetery Association and were closely involved in the creation of the cemetery chapel, believing it to be an important way to preserve our history and honor our departed loved ones.
Anne is survived by her two sons, Michael Chappell and spouse Ed Risner, of Carrollton, Texas, and Phillip Chappell and wife Shelly, of Albuquerque, N.M. She has six grandchildren, Margret Chappell, Emma Coppola and husband Ed, Melinda Chappell, Stephanie Chappell, Erica Kinney and husband Kory, and Joshua Chappell. Her seven great-grandchildren are Elijah Chappell, Alyssah Martinez, Madison Mattatal, Jade Kinney, Addison Kinney, Jackson Kinney and Kylie Percifull.
The family request memorials be sent to Fairview Cemetery Association in Memphis.
Sign the online guestbook at robertsonfuneral. com.
