Ethel Chandanais

Ethel grew up in Hancock, and attended Hancock High School, graduating in 1962. Following graduation, she briefly attended Michigan Tech University before moving to Pontiac, Michigan. There she lived with her sister, Bert, while working as a medical secretary to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Martin.

In early 1966, Ethel met Jim Chandanais. They married later that year in Waterford, Michigan, on Oct. 15, 1966. Initially living in Union Lake, in a house that Jim was renovating, they soon decided to move back home to the Upper Peninsula and bought a house on Calverly Street in West Houghton.

They became part of a close-knit neighborhood of lifelong friends. Concurrently, they began construction on their future business which they named Wash-a-Rama Cleaning Village on Montezuma Avenue in Houghton. Soon they decided to start a family, and, over the next few years, Ethel gave birth to all three of her children, Mike, Molly, and Laurel. In 1976, with a growing family, they built a home on Jacker Avenue.

Ethel soon became ever present at junior hockey, figure skating, skiing, football, and swimming events. She was always available to correct grammar in school papers and to help with homework. Ethel was an excellent mom. She enjoyed her children’s school years so much that she proudly led many “back-to-school” celebrations.

Over the years, Ethel and Jim were partners in life and in business, growing and sustaining Wash-a-Rama, as well as Econo-Wash Laundry in Hancock, acquired from Bill Komula in the early 1980s.

She notably took a job in 1983 as a secretary at the City of Houghton. Ethel quickly grew into a new professional role. She became responsible for more than secretarial tasks when she became the certified tax assessor for all properties within the city, led the organization of the annual Parade of Nations, and managed all public and private city water billing. She was often found at the city offices before dawn preparing for a city council meeting, running billing numbers one more time, or preparing the city manager for his next event.

Over the years she witnessed or participated in many events in the life of the city including the establishment and expansion of the downtown development authority, the construction of the parking decks and pedestrian bridges, the lakefront re-development, the establishment of the lakefront beach park, and the move from the old city offices to their new location on the north side of Sheldon Avenue. She was an essential contributor to city government event planning and a constant presence within the community for over 20 years.

On a more personal side, Ethel and Jim could often be found at Michigan Tech hockey games, camping with family and friends through the bluebird Michigan summers, or making the rounds to share time with their many friends around the area. Ethel often enjoyed picking and freezing berries, playing Bridge, spending time with the neighborhood quilting club, and socializing with her many friends over coffee. She was a devoted grandmother to her four granddaughters and often said that if she knew how much she would enjoy being a grandmother, she would have done that first.

In the winter of 2006, Ethel and Jim took a trip to Arizona for the first time. Though they loved Michigan, they immediately took to the warm dry climate of Mesa. Ethel decided she was ready for a new phase in her life and officially retired from the City of Houghton in 2010.

She and Jim bought a small house in Mesa and over the next few years began spending their winters there, forgetting the lake effect snow and arctic cold of the Upper Peninsula. In 2020, they sold the Jacker Avenue house and they moved to Mesa, Arizona, full time. Ethel often emphasized, “I don’t miss the snow.” She and Jim were both quite happy with the desert climate, palm trees, hazy sunsets, and a vibrant new community of friends and acquaintances where they lived until their final days.

Ethel is preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth James Chandanais; her parents, William and Hilma; her brother, John W. (Dorothy) Komula; and her sisters, Bertha Irene (Donald) Ziulkowski, Alice J (Bruce) Ponga, Helen (Daniel) Thomas, Sharon Lee (Jim) Berner, Shirley Ann (Sherwood) Rintala, and Viola Mae (William) Ryder. She is survived by her sister, Donna Fay Komula of Redridge, Michigan; her son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Nicole (Hamlin) Chandanais, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; her grand-daughters, Mikaela Chandanais of Denver, Colorado, and Elliana Chandanais of Bradenton, Florida; her daughter and son-in-law, Molly Chandanais-Haeg and Parker Haeg, of Scottsdale, Arizona; her grand-daughters, Morena Haeg and Maya Haeg of Scottsdale, Arizona; and her daughter, Laurel DeMars, of Houghton.