CHETOPA — Peggy Jean (Piatt) Paden, 92, longtime resident of Chetopa passed away on Friday, April 4, 2025, at Westgate at Wildwood Ranch in Joplin, Missouri.
She was born Oct. 28, 1932, in Butler, Missouri, to Grover C. and Nadine Elizabeth (Hammers) Piatt. The family lived in Missouri until Peggy was 9, when they relocated to Chetopa. She was a 1950 graduate of Chetopa High School, where she made and cherished several lifelong friendships.
In Chetopa, she grew up two houses away from her future husband, Joe Paden. They married in 1951 and lived briefly in Fredonia until Joe enlisted in the Army. They were stationed in Alaska, when they had their first child, Mark. After leaving the Army, they returned to Chetopa, where their daughter, Mary Ann, was later born. They resided in Chetopa for 55 years.
Peggy was a member of the Chetopa United Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school and contributed to musical ministries and events. Blessed with near-perfect pitch, she had an alto voice that she loved to use in harmony. She was a largely self-taught pianist who could play a song after one listen and transpose it to any key.
Peggy’s biggest priority was her family. She served as a loving caregiver to her parents and in-laws for a period spanning over three decades. She loved watching her children compete in academic and sporting events and spent many late nights supporting them through efforts that included everything from washing uniforms to spelling quizzes. Peggy instilled her children with a love of reading and learning, emphasizing that education was the path to achieve any dream they had.
She worked as a bookkeeper for banks in Kansas City and Oswego, as well as the Chetopa grain elevator. She also worked at Luman’s Laboratory. An avid fan of football and basketball who was born in Missouri and lived in Kansas three miles north of the Oklahoma state line, one of the key questions of her later years was, “When do the Chiefs/Jayhawks/Sooners play?”
She is survived by a sister, Darlene Piatt Downing; two children, Mark (Liz) Paden of Monkey Island, Oklahoma, and Mary Ann Paden Vassar (Andrew) of Tulsa, Oklahoma; two grandchildren, Nick Paden of Seattle, Washington, and Erica Paden Roberts (Tas) of Rockwall, Texas; and two great-grandchildren, Avery and Maddie Roberts.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe; a brother, Robert J. Chambers; and three sisters, Betty Ann Chambers Wilson, Mary K. Piatt Miles and Betty L. Piatt Bader.
Due to a family history of cardiac health challenges, as well as Peggy’s habit of saying “Oh, bless your heart” to any loved one enduring effort or struggle, the family suggests contributions to the American Heart Association. These may be left at or mailed to Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS, 67357.
The service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman of Chetopa.
Leave online condolences at www.forbeshoffman.com.
