Jack Albert Chapman

Jack Albert Chapman of Arlington, VA died on March 9, 2017. He had Alzheimer's Disease. Jack was born on December 1, 1938 in Amarillo, TX, but grew up from age three in Joplin, MO. He attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago on a Naval ROTC scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1960. A 20-year career in the Marine Corps followed. The part of Jack's career that had the most lasting impact on him was his assignment to organize and manage a Vietnamese refugee camp at Camp Pendleton, CA, during the first wave of refuges that arrived in the United States after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. A musical refugee family wrote, and recorded on a cassette tape, "Major Chapman Song." The sheet music hung in Jack's study for the rest of his life. Jack was also a competition shooter for the Marine Corps and competed and placed in the Nationals in 1963. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Jack had a second 20-year career, this one as a computer systems engineer with Lockheed Martin. Along the way, Jack earned two masters degrees in the computer field, one from The Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA and the other from Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Jack loved distance running, skiing, mountain climbing, classical music, fishing, geology, paleontology, and chess, and eagerly traveled the world over with his wife. He shared these loves with his extended family and left memories of a life well lived. Jack is survived by his wife of 32 years, Eleanor M. Thayer; three children and two step-children, Christine Chapman Rossomondo (Tom), John Chapman, Monica Chapman Carter (Mark Owens), Michael Roll (Maura), and Tricia Duncan (Gary); three sisters, Carolin Wilson (Tom), Sarah Prince (Steve), and MaryAnn Chapman; 12 grandchildren, Justin Otley, Jordyn Otley, Austin Fairbanks, Kelli Fairbanks, Laura Fairbanks, Rachel Chapman, Tristan Chapman, Perry Roll, Elena Roll, Rebecca Roll, Christopher Duncan, and Spencer Duncan; and numerous nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association under Jack's name: http://act.alz.org/goto/Jack_A_Chapman