Obituary

Louise Clayton McCardell of West Chester On the evening of February 17, 2016, Louise passed away peacefully of natural causes in her home in West Chester, PA. She was 98 years old, and, in the words of her hospice nurse, “more ready to meet her Maker than anyone she has ever witnessed”. Louise McCardell was born to Bessie Mae Clayton and Lewis T. Clayton, Sr. on January 16, 1918. She was their first child and is survived by her two younger siblings, LuVerne C. Zobel, age 95 and Lewis T. Clayton Jr, age 91. Louise was born in Valley Forge PA on the Valley Forge Battle Grounds in a farmhouse. She moved with her family to Glenmore, PA as a child where she was raised on a dairy farm and milked more than her fair share of cows. In her free time, she also enjoyed riding horses with her younger sister when they weren’t being used to plow the fields. She attended Font School (Font, PA), a 1 room schoolhouse where Mrs. Ash taught grades K – 8. She and her siblings actually did walk through snow drifts and up and down hills more than 3 miles to elementary school on winter days! She went on to attend West Chester High School which was unusual at the time (early 1930’s) for a family living in Glenmore, part of the Downingtown school district. Louise made it possible for herself and her younger sister and brother to attend the more highly regarded West Chester High because she took it upon herself to learn to drive the family car, which she drove daily on a 35-mile round trip to West Chester. She began developing her spiritual self early in life while attending Fairview Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday school for several years. It was at one of Fairview’s “Christian Endeavors” group gatherings that she met her future husband, Major Norman C. McCardell. The two were married in 1948. Tragically, their marriage met a premature end on December 4, 1956 when Major McCardell passed unexpectedly after complications from a routine surgery. Professionally, she was attracted to secretarial/administrative work from an early age. Her younger brother remembers many evening where she “made him” read aloud to her so she could practice the now lost art of “short hand” transcription. She worked for many years until retirement for West Chester area School District as Superintendent’s assistant. Louise was a woman who loved life. She loved to travel especially to exotic places like Panama, Jamaica, and California! Ever a fun-loving, happy person, she loved to dance, and enjoyed antiquing with life-long friend Norman McKenzie, MD. In addition to her brother and sister, Louise will be missed by nephew Greg Zobel (Faith), nieces Dawn Papineau and Kimberly Sturonas (Joe), as well as grand nephews and nieces Alex Zobel, Gregory Zobel, Nicole Williams, Chad Papineau, Millie Anderson, Kalla Sturonas, Megan Sturonas, Katie Novak, Mike Margileth, Faith Novak, Olivia Novak, and Ben Novak. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Fairview Presbyterian Church, 800 Fairview Road, Glenmore, PA 19343. Arrangements by Ralston & Bredickas Funeral Home, 107 W. Lancaster Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335, 610-269-3041
Published in The Daily Local on Feb. 21, 2016