A parking spot outside the Walmart store in High Ridge has been dedicated to Madilyn Chapman, who died June 19, 2021, from a brain aneurysm.
Madilyn, who used to work at the store, was 18 and lived in Byrnes Mill.
Madilyn’s spot on the parking lot, 2700 Ridge Point Drive, has been decorated in her honor.
“She is painted in the field of sunflowers there, and she has a Bible verse under her name,” said Madilyn’s mom, Erin Chapman, 42.
The verse, “Be His light,” is from Matthew 5:16.
Madilyn’s parking spot is in the last row of the lot across from the Murphy Express gas station.
That spot is where Madilyn always parked when she was working a shift at Walmart. She had worked there as a stocker for about a year before her death, Erin said.
Sarah Gant, one of Madilyn’s friends, painted the spot, Erin said.
She said the two met at church and were coworkers at Walmart.
Erin said some of Madilyn’s other friends and co-workers signed their names on the white lines outlining the parking spot.
Madilyn had her senior photos taken a week before she died, and that image of her was painted on the parking spot, Erin said.
To mark the one-year anniversary of Madilyn’s death, her mother plans to hold a taco bar party from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 18, at the parking spot.
Walmart employees and other who would like to celebrate Madilyn’s life are invited.
“I just want to try to be a light in the community that day just for a little bit,” she said.
Erin said Wicked Chicken in High Ridge will cater the taco bar.
“My daughter loved Mexican food. Mexican food was her favorite,” she said.
Erin said she got permission from Walmart to have the space decorated in honor of her daughter and to hold the party there.
Madilyn attended High Ridge Elementary, Cedar Springs Elementary and Valley Middle schools in the Northwest R-1 School District, her mother said.
Erin said Madilyn was a high school senior and was completing course through an online program.
“She was just the biggest, brightest light,” her mother said. “My daughter loves people. She did not know a stranger, and she loved working at Walmart. She just had the personality for it.”
Madilyn liked to make YouTube videos, write songs and sing, Erin said.
“That’s pretty much how she expressed herself,” her mother said.