Emma A
Emma Earle Alewine of Fairfield, 91, died Jan. 14, 2023.
Funeral services will be held at Capps Funeral Home at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, and viewing from 10–11 a.m. Emma was the youngest of three children born to Thomas Young Chancellor and Alice Emma Missildine Chancellor on May 17,1931.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her two brothers, John Thomas Chancellor and Daniel Young Chancellor. The graveside service will be at Parker Cemetery in Flo (Buffalo area).
Emma had a long career as a legal secretary and later worked in the land department at Dow Chemical. In 1954, she married James Edward Ezell and had two children, Tracie Lynne of Houston and Terry Alan of Fairfield.
Emma had polio at age 6, which destroyed the muscles in her legs. She grew up walking on crutches with a leg brace, but that did not stop her from raising two young children as a single working parent.
When her two kids were of college age and she became an empty nester, she found love again and married Martin James Alewine of Buffalo. They were married for 25 years and lived in Fairfield until his death in 1999.
Later in life, Emma could no longer walk on crutches so she kept moving with the use of a mobility scooter. She had a strong work ethic, was devoted to family and to being a productive member of the community.
She kept working into her 70s, walking to the van on crutches, loading the scooter by herself using a lift and driving herself to work. When she could no longer drive herself to a job, she worked from home, well into her 80s, processing payroll for her daughter’s business.
Emma had a great love of reading. She said it didn’t matter that her legs didn’t work because you could travel anywhere you wanted to go with a book.
Even during her years in the nursing home, she continued to be an avid reader and kept up with current events. From her marriage to James Ezell, Emma is survived by two children, three grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Tracie’s daughter’s name is also Emma; Terry’s children are Natalie and Alex; Natalie’s children are Nathaniel, Riley, Lorin, Phoebe, Laila and Tobias; and Alex’s children are Wyatt and Connor. Emma was close with Ashley Hanzelka, honorary granddaughter, caretaker and adoptive mom to two of Terry’s grandkids.
From her marriage to Martin Alewine, she has two sons, Michael and Mitchell, six grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. Michael (deceased) had Courtney, Mykayla and Morgan; Mitchell (deceased) had Keith, Miranda and Micah (deceased); Courtney has Baleigh and Kolby; Mykayla has Aniah, Makennah, Kestan and Mykinzie; Keith has Mitchell, Jerimiah and Abraham; and Miranda has Tristen, Madison, Kaidon, Zandon and Jackson.