Olga Chanat

Olga (Papaila) Chanat, 89, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, February 5, 2018, surrounded by her four children. Olga was born April 21, 1928, in East Conemaugh, PA, to Slavic immigrant parents Theodore and Pelagia (Hlopik) Papaila. She showed promise as an artist during childhood and studied privately through high school. Upon her instructor’s urging and with her parent’s support, Olga attended Edinboro State Teacher’s College - the first in the family to enjoy the privilege of higher education. She was married in 1951 and settled in Glen Burnie, MD, where she taught art to generations of Anne Arundel County elementary school students. While Olga preferred to express herself through oil, pastel, and watercolor painting, she also worked with pen-and-ink drawing, as well as copper enamel, papier-mache, macramé, sculpture, pottery, and weaving. She was accepted for membership in the Baltimore Watercolor Society and was also affiliated with the Annapolis Watercolor Club. Olga was a devoted wife and mother who enjoyed spending time with her family, playing pinochle, cooking, and relating her family heritage through stories, sayings, and folk songs.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Michael, and all five of her siblings: Mary Davenport, Anna Fritts, Pearl Papaila, William Papaila, and John Papaila. She is survived by her children Michael (Glen Burnie, MD), Jeffrey and his wife Rima Franklin (Richmond, VA), Danielle and her husband Keith Smith (Charlotte, NC), Steff and her wife Jeannine Chavez (Rio Rancho, NM), and her one grandson, Theodore Franklin Chanat.

Olga was a long-time member of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Baltimore, MD. Visitation will be held at Kirkley-Ruddick Funeral Home, 421 Crain Hwy. S.E., Glen Burnie, MD 21061 on Friday February 9, 2018 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM and 6:30 – 8:30 PM, with a Panikhida (memorial service) beginning at 7:30. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 10 at 10:00 AM in the Saints Peter & Paul Chapel at Cathedral Gardens, 6480 Elibank Drive, Elkridge, MD. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake, or to a charity of your choice.

Memory Eternal.