Frances M. Chapla, 88, Registsered Nurse & Porcelain Artisan

Mrs. Chapla was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 5, 1918 and had been a resident of Franklin County since 2002 coming from Amherst, Ohio. She had previously resided in both Lorain and Elyria.

Frances was a 1936 graduate of Lourdes Academy in Cleveland; she went on to attend the Saint Alexis Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1941 with certification as an Ohio Registered Nurse. During World War II she provided public health nursing services and served as an instructor for the Cadet Nurse Corps. She also was a member of the National Red Cross Nursing Service.

Following the death of her physician husband in 1969, she returned to hospital care as a registered nurse at the former Saint Joseph Hospital in Lorain working from 1970 through 1980. She was among the first care-givers in that institution to be trained in the use of a new telemetry monitoring unit for coronary care patients there. She also volunteered as a Red Cross Nurse conducting blood pressure clinics for senior citizens and also assisted in coordinating and supervising blood donor drives. From 1962 through 1980 she was privileged to serve on the advisory committee of the Saint Joseph Hospital School of Practical Nursing.

Mrs. Chapla was a skilled artisan of porcelain figurines and subsequently created a variety of lace-draped dolls, and a twenty-two piece Nativity set. She was also highly skilled in the craft of china painting.

Frances was regarded as the family genealogist and authored a memoir of her life entitled Grandma Remembers.

Survivors include her son John D. Chapla of Alexandria, Virginia, daughters Linda Chapla of Atlanta, Georgia, and Valerie Romer of Columbus, grandchildren Maren Hoecker of Pasadena, California, Marie Chapla of Tallahassee, Florida, and Brian Romer and Colleen Romer both of Columbus, along with a sister Mary Jane Matzelle of North Olmsted, Ohio.

She was preceded in death by her husband Albert B. Chapla, M.D. in 1969, by her parents John and Camilla (nee Mazanec) Haas, and by sisters Rita Graf and Jacqueline Simon.

Visitation will be Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel – 3224 Broadway Avenue – Lorain. Funeral services will be Tuesday beginning with closing prayers in the funeral chapel at 9:15 a.m. and will be followed by the celebration of her funeral mass at 10:00 a.m. in Saint Joseph Catholic Church – 200 Saint Joseph Drive – Amherst. The Reverend Joseph Warner, Associate Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish will officiate. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery – Lorain.

Please make donations to either the Saint Joseph Endowment for Catholic Education – 200 Saint Joseph Drive – Amherst, Ohio 44001 or to the Saint Vincent de Paul Food Pantry also in care of Saint Joseph Parish.