Chloe Pearl (Jarrell) Peterson
Marriages
Paul K Pettry - July 12, 1932
Divorced
Bernard Peterson - 1970
Burial Details
Obituaries
Steamboat Today - May 19, 2012
Chloe Pearl Jarrell was born May 7, 1911, to George and Alice (Buzzard) Jarrell in Ameagle, W.Va. She was the fifth of nine children. She married Paul K. Pettry on July 12, 1932. To this union, daughter Flora Irene Pettry was born April 13, 1933.
They lived in West Virginia, where Paul typically worked in the coal mines. They left West Virginia and moved to Steamboat Springs and then Mount Harris in 1942. With the town of Mount Harris being sold out in 1958, Chloe and Paul moved to Hayden. They were divorced in 1965.
She later married Bernard Peterson in 1970. While married to Bernard, they shared their time between Pennsylvania and Hayden. Chloe was widowed from Bernard in 1977, at which time she moved back to Hayden. In 1987, she moved to Craig.
Chloe died May 13, 2012, while residing at Sunset Meadows. She had just celebrated her 101st birthday.
Chloe worked a lot of different jobs in her lifetime. She would do about anything to keep the family going and to put food on the table. She cleaned houses, worked in motels and worked at the Craig nursing home in the 1960s. She managed the Hayden Laundromat in the early 1980s before retiring. One of her stories was that she quit school early to help support the family of nine children when her mom died early. She helped her dad supply timber for the mines in West Virginia and also helped prospect the coal seams in the hills of West Virginia. There is a monument in West Virginia about the first woman in the coal mines because back then it was considered bad luck to have women in the mines. Chloe said there were others like her who were underground before the one who was celebrated, but they had to hide their gender.
Chloe is best known for taking care of people. She would volunteer to help anybody who was down on their luck or seeing their last years of life. Since the mid-1980s, she has helped drive a lot of people to doctor’s appointments. She even kept her driver’s license until her death. Until the last few months of her life, she was self-sufficient.
Even though she was the middle child of a family of nine children, Chloe outlived all of her siblings. Sisters that passed previously were Ruby, Golda, Garnett, Ina, Ida and Lydia. Brothers were Guy and Claude. She also survived past her only child, Flora Pettry Smith Stehle, who died in 1997. Her step-grandchild Chris Stehle also preceded her in death.
She is survived by her three grandchildren, Laura Smith, LaVan Stehle (Dan) and Brian Smith (Jeanine); son-in-law Clyde Stehle; great-grandchild Sara Powell; great-great-grandchildren Zach and Allison Powell; step-grandchildren Kim Stehle, Carol (Mike) Taylor, Jan (Bill) Leonard, Dan (Shirley) Stehle and Beth Koonce; and numerous nephews, nieces and extended families in Colorado and West Virginia.
Chloe was laid to rest next to her daughter Flora in the Craig Cemetery on May 17, 2012. Pallbearers were Bruce Camilletti, Bob Carden, Ed Coverston, Dick Dunckley, Jim Kowach and Tony Vallejos. Honorary pallbearers were all of her many friends.
She left a lasting impact on those who knew her and will be deeply missed by her family and many friends. Thanks to those who visited Chloe in her final days and helped her in her passing.
