Zelda N. Chandler dies at 94
Zelda N. Chandler, age 94 of Melbourne, Fla., formerly of Columbia, Missouri died Monday, May30, 2016 in her home.Services will be held 10: a.m. Saturday, June 25, 2016, at the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home-Olson Chapel in Nashua. Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nashua.Zelda was born December 21, 1921 in Cambridge, Iowa, the daughter of Murrel and Melvessa(Severson) Scott. She attended Walnut Grove and Cambridge grade schools and Maxwell HighSchool.Zelda was about 11 years old when she began to sing with her brother Harold and sister Faye atthe Fourth of July county fair celebrations as well as other neighborhood occasions doing solo,duet and trio tunes that were popular at that time. Their father would often accompany them onhis fiddle.In 1937, Faye and Zelda entered a talent contest at the Des Moines State Fair that wassponsored by radio station KRNT. They won first place and the prize was a six-week contractwith the popular variety show "Hawkeyes Dinner Time". This started her entertainment andsinging career which included radio stations, KRNT, WNAX in Yankton, KFNF in Shenandoahand WHO in Des Moines, where she worked for 19 years. Her sister Faye joined the WHOfamily in 1947 to reunite the "Scott Sisters".Ronald Reagan, who was a sports announcer at WHO in the 1930's, was invited back to WHOin 1943 for an on air interview. Zelda sat in the front row! Another special event was whenPresident Truman gave a campaign speech nearby. A group of WHO staffers put on theentertainment and Zelda and Faye sang "Two Little Girls in Blue." In the 1950's Mary Randolphjoined them and the trio was known as the Blue Ridge Mountain Gals.In 1959, she married Tom Chandler in the Little Brown Church in Nashua. She left her singingcareer and moved to Columbia, Missouri. During their first year of marriage she traveled withTom, who worked for the Neptune Water Company. They lived there for 31 years until Tomretired in 1984. In 1990 Zelda and Tom moved to Lady Lake, Florida, eventually moving toRockledge, Florida in 2002 to be near her stepson Steve.Zelda is survived by her stepson Steven Chandler and wife Sandra of Melbourne, Fla.,stepdaughter Linda Chandler of Iowa City, brother Lynn Scott of Leon, Iowa,grandchildren, great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins.She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Tom, sister Faye and four brothers: Lyle,Loren, Harold and Ferris
