1936-2022
Mrs. Peggy Jo Chandler Hamel, age 85, a resident of Haughton, Louisiana passed away at home following a prolonged illness on Thursday, March 24, 2022. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home and Park in Haughton. Visitation commences at 1:00 PM, followed by a Memorial Service at 2:00 PM and a catered reception at 3:00 PM.
Mrs. Hamel was born November 17, 1936 in the small town of Hurricane in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana to the late Joseph Chandler and Beatrice Chandler. On July 6, 1957 she married Mr. William Joseph Hamel, embarking on an adventure together lasting nearly sixty-five years.
Mrs. Hamel served her country as the spouse of an Air Force NCO for twenty-five years. To her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Mrs. Hamel was “the keeper of the back patio.” That is to say, she was the “healer” of our family, the person who deftly facilitated healing and reconciliation on the back patio at the family homestead in Haughton. Over the decades, Mrs. Hamel provided her family with a much-cherished place for long conversations and personal family reconciliations. All in her family witnessed a great deal of laughter, tears, and joyful congregation on her back patio. Undoubtedly, Mrs. Hamel was the brightest star of our family and her back patio provided us all with a place of refuge and reunion.
Mrs. Hamel is survived by her children, William Christopher Carter-Hamel and Brigitte
Carter-Hamel of Oklahoma City, OK; John Kendall Hamel of Ringo, LA; Stephen Craig Hamel of Ponca City, OK; and Lori Hamel Piersall and Robert Piersall of Haughton, LA. Mrs. Hamel is also survived by thirteen grandchildren, twenty-two great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild, as well as a plethora of nieces and nephews. Let it be known that Mrs. Hamel loved and was loved widely and deeply by all her family.
Preceding Mrs. Hamel in death were her parents, her husband, William Joseph Hamel, her son, Darien Keith Hamel, and two of her grandsons, Shawn Michael Hamel and Craig James (“CJ”) Hamel. Also preceding Mrs. Hamel in death are her step-mother, Mrs. Edna Chandler, and all eight of her siblings.
Although Mrs. Hamel is irreplaceable, and we all will miss her guiding, loving hand in our lives, we, as she encouraged us, will persevere.
