Molly Chapman

Molly died peacefully after living with her cancer for more than 13 years, surrounded by her son, her close friends and her pastor.

She was born in Tacoma, Washington to Capt. William "Bill" Badgett and

Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Hicks. After the death of Capt. Badgett in 1951 in

Alaska, Molly, her mother and her younger brother Bill Badgett moved to

Oklahoma, then to Dallas, where Molly's mother remarried. Molly grew up

in the Park Cities, graduating from Highland Park High School. She earned her

college degree at the University of Tulsa and later married Robert "Bob" Chapman.

Molly and Bob moved from Kansas City, MO, to Plano, where they raised their

son Jon Chapman. Molly's brother Bill died in 1991, her husband died in 2002,

and her mother died earlier this year.



Molly built a wonderful life in Plano around her family, her teaching career,

her golden retrievers, her church and her numerous friends. She was a beloved

early-childhood teacher in the Plano Independent School District for 22 years.

Teaching at PISD's Saigling, Hughston and Mendenhall schools, she was

honored with an Excellence in Teaching award. Along the way, Molly earned

her masters degree in early-childhood education. A few years after retiring from

the Plano school system, Molly spent two years at the Cross Bend Christian

Academy teaching 4 year-olds. Molly treasured all of her students as well as

their parents. The fact that many of her former students and their parents stayed

in touch with her over the years is a testimony to how well-respected and loved

she was as a teacher.



Molly adored her four golden retrievers: Winston, Maggie, Maestro and Flirt.

Both Maestro and Flirt were breed champions, Flirt earned numerous agility

titles, and Maggie won a junior hunter award. Molly was previously a president

of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metro Golden Retriever Club, and was always a very

active volunteer in the club, going wherever she was needed. A Komen Race

for the Cure team named "The Golden Girls" participated in cancer-walks in

Molly's honor.



Molly's best friends: Mary Jean Bassett, Jean Chapoton, and Jan Edgley, were

her biggest supporters through the years and became her travel companions on a

spring 2010 road trip to Savannah, Charleston and Williamsburg. "The Diva

and the Belles," as the group named themselves, made a lifetime of memories on

that trip, memorialized in a hard bound photo book capturing all the beauty and

fun they had. Molly treasured her time with these friends and hoped to make

another road trip with them this fall.



Molly loved the numerous rose bushes in her yard, and frequently shared with

friends and neighbors beautiful bunches of fresh blossoms. One of these bushes



was special to her because her mother Libby brought the rose bush from the

family homestead in Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma. After Molly's death, her traveling

buddies discovered that Molly had ordered three rose bushes as surprise gifts for

them.



There are many people to thank for their loving care of Molly over the years:

Charles Chapoton, Molly's "Mr. Fix-it" who was always on call to run over and

fix anything for her; Jean Chapoton, who tirelessly and lovingly went with

Molly to her doctors' appointments for years and kept up with all the medical

records and information for Molly; Dr. Michael Savin, who had a very special

relationship with Molly and who became a close friend of hers beyond their

professional relationship and whom Molly loved,appreciated and trusted implicitly;

the incredible staff at Dr. Savin's office who took such good care of Molly every

time they saw her; the Rev. Dr. David Batchelder, the pastor at Molly's church,

West Plano Presbyterian Church, who was always there for Molly and brought her

so much comfort and peace; the members of the West Plano Presbyterian Church

who tirelessly attended to Molly's needs by bringing meals and communion and

doing whatever was needed; the sweet neighbors and friends who kept her dogs

and walked her dogs and checked on her; and last but not least, Kelly Chaney,

who not only took beautiful care of Molly's mother in the last two years of her life,

but also took care of Molly this year.



The family would like to thank everyone for their help over the years. Molly

met her cancer with a smile and a strong faith, and never gave up enjoying her

life with her family, her dogs and her friends.



A celebration of Molly's life will be held Saturday, October 15, 2011 at

10:00 a.m. at West Plano Presbyterian Church, 2709 Custer Road, Plano,

Texas 75075.



If desired, the family requests that donations be made in Molly's name to

either the West Plano Presbyterian Church (2709 Custer Rd., Plano, TX 75075) or

the American Cancer Society (mailing address: P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City,

OK 72123-1718 or website address: www.cancer.org).