Thelma Hightower Chandler

October 14, 2016, Thelma Hightower Chandler stepped out of time into eterni\y to be with the · Lord. Thelma was born on November 9, 1928,in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the late Alvin and Fannie Summers Hightower. Her husband Edward Nathaniel Sr.;her.son Edward Nathaniel J r, sister Clarice Lee and brother Alvin Hightower as well as a host of fami!)r an.d friends welcomed her into glory. Thelma accepted the Lord at an ear!)r age, and taught all of her children to love Lord. Even as she aged, she had a deep love for God and joined Antioch Baptist Church in Henrico, Virginia, where worshipped as often as she could. Thelma completed her primary and secondary education in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She also studied nursing and cosmetology and received certifications in Baltimore, MD. She met and married her high school sweetheart Edward Chandler,and traveled throughout the continental U nited States and overseas, while living the life of a military wife. After her husband retired from the military. Thelma was co-owner alongside her husband of Independent Janitorial Service. She and her husband created an organization for retired enlisted service men known as The Retired Enlisted Men's Association (TREA}, in which she served as treasurer, later to serve as treasurer for the American Veterans known as AMVETS. Thelma was always the "Bell of the Ball" everywhere she went. She appeared on local television as a volunteer for various causes during the time she spent i n Baltimore. Thelma was adventurous. In one of her first moves to Virginia. she found employment with Fashion Bug as a consultant in Ashland Va. As the years advanced, she moved to the Richmond area, and joined Riverside Pace, where she made many friends of participants and staff alike. She enjoyed playing bingo and her favorite game of dominoes. Her favorite pastime however was just sitting on the pier and casting her line into the water, sometimes being the only to one catch a fish or two. She leaves to honor her memory sons, Dennis Michael, Alvin Jeffery, Walter Elliott, Sr. (Venera), John Lacy Chandler (Ronetta); daughters, Christine Thornton Stuckey and Deborah Jackson, as well as a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, numerous family and friends.

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Thelma Hightower Chandler

November 9, 1928 - October 14, 2016