Emma “Kitty” James Chandler Belle Haven, Virginia BIRTH: February 28, 1937 DEATH: May 11, 2020, age 83
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very day for the two years Emma “Kitty” Chandler lived at Heritage Hall in Nassawadox, her husband would arrive, sit next to her and hold her hand. William Chandler and Emma James had married in 1954. The 65-year marriage was strong. “He was one dedicated husband,” said her brother, Ernest James of Painter. “He made sure she ate and made sure she drank. Everybody at the nursing home knew him.” “She perked up when she saw him.” But as the novel coronavirus spread around the Eastern Shore, and COVID-19, the sickness it causes, became more prevalent, Heritage Hall was closed to visitors. Still, there was an outbreak there, as with other nursing homes across the country. Chandler was one of the residents who was sickened with COVID-19. Her death May 11 was paticularly difficult for her husband. After the closure he was unable to see his wife. After he spent so much time at her side, she died without him. “I understand why it was done,” said James of the closure. He also was a regular at Heritage Hall, frequently visiting his sister, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. “But it was really difficult. He really took it hard.
She was his life.” Emma Chandler was known for her good humor and for making people laugh. She graduated from Mary N. Smith High School in Accomac in 1954. She was the youngest of seven until James, her only younger sibling, was born. “She got mad when I came along,” he joked. After graduation, she and her husband moved to New York, where she had a long career at a state facility taking of the physically and mentally challenged. William and Emma James had five children. They moved back to the Eastern Shore in 1997 and again she was active at New Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Painter, the church in which she was raised. Her graveside service was held at the church’s cemetery May 15. James said his sister was fond of her grandchildren and fond of entertaining and cooking for others. James said the cruel irony of COVID-19 is that it separated two people who had been inseparable for so long. “He never got the chance to say goodbye,” he said of her husband.
— Written by Ted Shockley