Anne Wickham Chapman

Anne Wickham Chapman died at home on July 25th in Vero Beach, Florida. A funeral service will be held at Bradley-Brough Funeral Home, 345 Main St., Chatham, on Thursday, July 30, at 12 noon. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside. Born in Matawan in 1923, Anne was raised there and in Middletown. She attended Saint James School, Red Bank Catholic High School, Sacred Heart School in Noroton, Connecticut, and in 1945 was graduated from Trinity College in Washington D.C. Throughout her life, she maintained and cherished the relationships she formed during her school days. Anne returned to her native New Jersey after school, where she met and fell in love with Richard Haynes Chapman—the boy next door—just home from service in WWII. They married in 1946 and raised their four children in Short Hills and Summit, before moving to Florida, where they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary together before Richard passed away in 2007. A woman of great faith, Anne was a long-time parishioner at Saint Rose of Lima Church in Short Hills, Saint Theresa's Church in Summit, and Holy Cross Church in Vero Beach. She taught in the CCD program, lectured at Mass, and was active in the Rosary Society at Saint Rose of Lima. She also volunteered at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, and served on the board of Assumption College in Mendham. An avid gardener, she created beautiful landscapes at their family homes. Anne and Richard were proud to have hosted a number of local garden club tours over the years. A talented artist, she designed and created the Christmas cards that she sent annually to treasured family and friends. She played tennis until the age of eighty, and enjoyed bridge and crossword puzzles throughout her life. Anne always delighted in learning; she even overcame her aversion to technology so that she could master the computer system that translates books into Braille for the Red Cross. She had a particular expertise in history, especially the Civil War and Lincoln; and her Irish roots were ever near and dear to her heart. But what Anne's family and many friends will never forget were her warm hospitality—her children's friends fondly remember the "open door" policy at the Chapman house—and her ever-sparkling sense of humor. Her parents, Henry George and Mary Shouvlin Wickham, and her sister, Edna Schock, predeceased her. She is survived by her brother Henry Wickham and his wife Patricia, of Springfield, Ohio, and by her four children: Joanne Chapman Einert and her husband Edwin, of Kennesaw, Georgia; John Kelly Chapman, of Vero Beach, Florida; Robert Wickham Chapman and his wife Veronica, of Annandale, New Jersey; and Deborah Chapman Katz and her husband Joseph, of Toms River, New Jersey. She leaves behind five grandchildren: Edwin Richard Einert, Cristina Ann Damiano, Andrew John Einert, Anne Marie Einert, and Michael Richard Katz; and two great-grandchildren: Laura Damiano and Loryn Einert. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Anne's memory to the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice of Indian River County, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, Florida, 32960-4801 800-749-5670, www.vnatc.com.