On the second day in the Year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-one, James and Henrietta [Jonas] Cooley celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby girl on the family's 40 acre farm in Wagoner, Oklahoma. They named their new daughter Elizabeth Louise.

She began her primary education in the Wagoner Public Schools and graduated from High School there. After completing High School, she matriculated to Langston University and earned her Bachelors Degree. To pay for her own education, she ironed and pressed the President of Langston's shirts, which is a testimony to her desire and ambition for success. Even more impressive was her Master's Degree, which she earned from the University of Tulsa. She received this degree at Carver School in Tulsa during times of segregation. Blacks were not allowed on the campus.

This new teacher landed her first teaching assignment at Red Bird, Oklahoma. Next was teaching in Sands Springs, Oklahoma before ultimately embarking upon a teaching career with the Tulsa Public Schools which lasted over 40 years, teaching Third and Fourth grades.

Miss Cooley met a gentleman, a young, ambitious and energetic preacher that she was smitten with. This minister, Reverend Thomas Oscar Chappelle pursued her without fail and their courtship evolved into Holy Matrimony in August of 1946. He affectionately called her "Cooley" and together they raised three children.

Mrs. Chappelle was concerned about her community and involved in many different functions. She served on the committee to re-decorated Gilcrease Museum and thoroughly enjoyed her work with Meals on Wheels. She was also a tutor for Destination Discovery, which later became Youth at Heart.

Her devotion, love and care to her family was evident in how she took care of the home. She had meals prepared at 7:00 A.M., 12 Noon and 5:00 P.M., and rumor has it, you should always be on time. She was an excellent cook and loved providing for her family. She once prepared a meal and served a special guest in her home. This distinguished man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a friend of her husband.

She served the Lord faithfully with her service at Morning Star Baptist Church. Her service included but was not limited to teaching Sunday School, the W. M. U., sang in the Choir, the 6 T Club of Morning Star, the Elizabeth Circle, United Friends, was involved with the Minister's Wives Association and worked on the registration desk for the National Baptist Congress.

Her personal time was spent cooking, taking pictures and of course, walking two miles a day for exercise. Her very presence will be missed by all who knew her.

After 85 seasons with us, Elizabeth Louise "Cooley" Chappelle, transferred her membership from Morning Star Baptist Church to "Church Triumphant." She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a daughter, Flora Yvonne Williams and her sister.

Those that wait on the Lord; her sons, Dr. T. Oscar Chappelle, Jr., and wife Janice and Judge Carlos J. Chappelle, all of Tulsa, Oklahoma; six grandchildren, Danette Williams, Danny C. Williams, Dr. Thomas Gentry Williams and Stephen Kito Chappelle, all of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Estella Yvette Benson, Greenville, Mississippi and T. Oscar Chappelle, III, Antioch, Tennesse; twelve great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends and the Morning Star Church Family.

The Worship Service of Celebration will be on Friday, December 22, 2006 at 11:00 A.M. in the Sanctuary of the Morning Star Baptist Church. Dr. J. A. Reed, Jr., Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, will Preside.

The Christian Committal and Entombment will follow in Green Hill Cemetery in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

You may visit Mother Chappelle, as she slumbers in the All Faiths Chapel of Keith D. Biglow Funeral Directors, Inc., in Tulsa on Thursday from 10 AM until 7 PM.