12/12/2019
Polly Lynn Samford Chaney, 89, born August 1, 1930, passed from this earth at 1:31 a.m., Wednesday, November 27, 2019, at Nacogdoches Medical Center Hospital.
She was laid to rest at New Hope Cemetery in Center, Texas, near her family.
Polly Lynn, born and raised in Shelbyville, Texas, was a member of the Shelbyville Methodist Church, where she accepted her Lord and Savior into her life at the age of nine years. Polly loved to sing, had a beautiful voice, and was called on often by “Miss Lula” at church to get up and sing. Later, she began singing with the Lee Men’s Trio with her friend, Dorothy Lee at the piano. Dorothy later married a Samford and picked the middle name “Lynn” for her daughter in honor of Polly.
Polly Lynn graduated from Shelbyville High in 1947, having served on the pep squad with dear friend, Nelwyn Fields, and was also chosen to sing the solo, “The End of a Perfect Day”, at her graduation ceremony.
After high school graduation, Polly moved to Houston and took a job as a switchboard operator at Southwestern Bell. At this time, she lived with her Aunt Olive and husband, Edward Dinkler, in Houston Heights. Her friend from Center, Peggy Webster, was also living and working in Houston for WWIB, which were auditors for all the railroads, including Southern Pacific. Peggy told Polly about a job opening and Polly nailed the interview as Peggy always said, “Dressed to Kill”. At that time, Polly made all her own clothes. After retiring from Western Weighing and Inspection Bureau (WWIB) after thirty-five years, Polly started her own inspection business, Able Inspection. For the next several years, often taking her only grandson, Adam Jay Chaney, just a youngster, along and making sure she wasn’t alone on some of those isolated railroad tracks. Polly was still climbing up on box cars and gondolas to often inspect contents, until a stroke in July 2000 put an end to that and also an end to her smoking another cigarette.
Fully recovered from her stroke, she returned to her business for a short time with the understanding she would not be climbing the railroad cars anymore. People were happy to accommodate, but when technology demanded a digital camera instead of the film being delivered at Eckerds, she called it quits.
Leaving Houston in 2012 to move back to East Texas to be close to her one of six remaining siblings, Charles L. Samford, she began to have some health problems. Suffering from AFIB for many years, her circulation was bad and finally resulted in an amputation below the right knee because of a small wound that only got worse. So many different things were tried, but it wasn’t meant to be. While back in Houston to have surgery on that wound, she fell off the surgery bed and a hip was broken. Surgery resulted. She came through that and often suffered from that pain. Amputation of the leg finally came in August of 2015. Another hip surgery occurred due to a fall from her wheelchair, pneumonia while in the nursing home for rehab, and all the while dementia beginning to appear. Decided to replace her few teeth with dentures and nearly bled to death in 2016. Total removal of both breast in October 2018 due to cancer, coded in the hospital in October 2019 for a simple procedure to an artery for circulation, she bounced back from that after losing too much blood. And finally, a massive right brain stroke in November 2019 which affected her left arm, balance, and swallowing. Also, her carotid artery had begun to dissect. Then even this last episode, she continued to fight for her health insisting on having surgery for her carotid artery and wanting to be home by Christmas.
She was to have a trach put in Wednesday morning and the tubing she had in her mouth helping her breathe removed. They had kept her sedated, but her vitals were good. The last time we had spoken had been nearly a week before the tubing was put in still insisting she would overcome. Although I believed, I knew she was growing weary.
I know she had a great welcoming celebration that Wednesday, November 27, morning and my belief is we will be together again.
Be the things you loved the most about the person who is gone.
Loving daughter,
Pollene Estelle (Stellar) Walker
