Obituary of Chaille Dow Bruell

Chaille was an original baby boomer, born in 1946. Our mother was working as a nurse in San Francisco. We once asked Chaille what her earliest memory of Daddy was…She told us she was about 4, standing on the edge of a pool, afraid to jump in. Daddy extended his arms and told her “I’ll always catch you.” And, he always did. Chaille was blessed to be adopted by Bert and have him as her father. As we all were. Growing up in Federal Way, Chaille made her mark. She was involved in theater, journalism, debate, foreign exchange, Girl Scouts, piano, and the yearbook. She went to two international Girl Scout events and reported on them for the local newspaper. She was the star of her Latin class. Chaille’s pals were the intellectuals. Chaille was blessed with brains. She was smart and academically memorable. She was once recognized as having the highest IQ in the Federal Way School District. Trust me, she was a tough act to follow in school. Every teacher remembered her…and compared us. Chaille’s college years were memorable, but for very different reasons. It wasn’t clear at the time, but Chaille’s bi-polar disorder was beginning to present itself. The Sixties were a difficult time for Chaille and our family. But Chaille had this incredible ability to get what she eventually needed and find people who would help her. Our parents never gave up on Chaille – she was blessed with parents who cared and loved for her—regardless. It would be easy to focus on all that went wrong for Chaille—because a lot did. But the last 17 years are the ones I’d like to remember her for. Chaille was blessed to be in a committed relationship with Robin, a man who understood her, was patient with her, could tease her, could settle her down, could simply sit and enjoy peaceful, quiet times with her. In Chaille’s last two years we got to know the man our sister loved and who made her immensely happy and the most balanced and content we’d ever known her to be. And, he gave her the gift of a peaceful exit—giving her control and dignity and the comfort of being loved to the end by her family and a circle of healers and helpers. We should all be so lucky.