Bessie Turner Chappas
Bessie Turner Chappas passed away peacefully on September 3, 2025, at the age of 93, in the company of her eldest daughter.
Bess was born in Kalamas, Greece, in the early 1930s, and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1939. After working as a teacher and school media specialist she became a writer and storyteller, performing across the country at festivals and penning columns, articles, and books.
She was an active member of the St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Savannah as well as the Philoptochos Society. Bess loved to help with the annual Greek Festival in order to share her culture with the local community. Her extensive travels gave her experiences which she brought into her storytelling with the Toastmasters, along with her own Savannah Story Spinners.
Bess wrote monthly for the now-defunct Coastal Senior, assorted articles for the Savannah Morning News, and books for both children and adults. Her stories about moving to America from Greece are immortalized in the children’s books Kiki and the Red Shoes and Kiki and the Statue of Liberty, her fascination with characters and mythology is chronicled in the adult fantasy novel Wrath of Aphrodite, and her own relationship with her mother is described in her final work My Mother’s Hands.
In the unwritten world, Bess is survived by two daughters, one son, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
A funeral service for Bess Chappas was held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, September 8, 2025, at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church. Burial followed at Savannah’s Bonaventure Cemetery.
Bess Chappas’ books, including Kiki and the Red Shoes, Kiki and the Statue of Liberty, Wrath of Aphrodite, and My Mother’s Hands are available to purchase through her grandson. Interested parties can email christopherjteuton@gmail.com for pricing and delivery options.
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