Obituaries

Harriett Shearman Mahaffey Chambers

Photo of Harriett Shearman Mahaffey Chambers
HARRIETT SHEARMAN MAHAFFEY CHAMBERS, 93, of Little Rock died Oct. 14, 2013. She was born on Aug. 22, 1920 in Bowling Green, Ohio, the daughter of S. Douglass Shearman and Hazel Barkalow Shearman. She graduated from Bryan High School, Bryan, Ohio, in 1938 and attended Bowling Green State University. She married Clyde C. Mahaffey in the Chapel of the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., in Aug. 1942. Harriet and Clyde were owners of Del-Rae Cleaners in Toledo, Ohio, where she worked as the bookkeeper for 41 years. She was preceded in death by Clyde in 1983. Following his death she was a nanny for several Toledo area families for 10 years. Harriet was later married to Fondee J. Chambers in Nov. 2000. They also lived in Toledo, Ohio, until his death in 2005. Then, she moved to Little Rock, Ark., to be close to her daughter and became active in LifeQuest of Arkansas and Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Ark. Her brother William M. Shearman and Mary Shearman Shaffer Pranke also preceded her in death. Harriet adored the family and the friends she had over her 93 years of loving, laughing, and serving others. She volunteered in church, at extended learning, in her crochet work, at card-making, and at home. She was constantly on the go and involved in her community. She was always trying to make others feel welcome in her presence wherever that happened to be. She only lived in Little Rock for the last eight years of her life but she made every day count and gained many, many new friends and she "adopted" extended family at each step of her long, lovely life. She is survived by daughter Carolyn Shearman of Little Rock, Ark.; by granddaughters, Ellen (Thomas) Whitmore of Vienna, Va., and Catherine (Nathaniel) Dickey of Moorhead, Minn.; by nieces, Debby Shaffer, Sarah (Mark) Diak, Ann (Ed) Selinger, and Sharon Gavett; by nephews, David (Linda) Shaffer, Paul (Marti) Shaffer, and Michael Shearman. The lights of her life were her great-grandchildren, Phoebe Whitmore, Harry Whitmore, Margaret Dickey, and Benjamin Dickey. Beloved extended family includes step-sons, Jay (Bonita) Chambers and Timothy Chambers; step-daughters, Karen (Walter) Cayce and Kimberly (Tim) Nelson; Charles Mullins, Andrew (Mina Haeri) Mullins and their daughters, Isabella, Natalie, and Kendra; John (Katie) Linstead and daughter, Rachel (Billy) Linstead-Goldsmith; cousins, Dick (Janet) Brown and John (Karen) Mahaffey. A service to celebrate Harriet's life will be held at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. and her ashes will be interred in the church Columbarium at that time. Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to LifeQuest of Arkansas, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, Ark. 72227 or to Second Presbyterian Church also at 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, Ark. 72227. Please visit www.cremationsofarkansas.com to sign the online guest register.

Published October 20, 2013

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