Donna Marie Chapman

Donna Marie Chapman passed away peacefully on August 14, 2025, at the age of 82. She was born July 12, 1943, in San Francisco, California, as the eldest of three girls to Marge and Donald Day. Donna was affectionately known as Mom, Grandmother, Pee Paw, Zsa Zsa, and Aunt Donna. She was an elegant and stylish woman, a silver-haired beauty with a vibrant personality and a warm smile. Donna was a master of conversation, often engaging in discourse with strangers who would become automatic friends. She was a person of her word who truly cared about others and genuinely desired to make others feel special. In her later years, despite Alzheimer's Disease and limited mobility, she continued to emanate love all around her by blowing kisses and extending hugs with a gracious smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

Donna graduated from Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Cotty College in Nevada, Missouri. Shortly after her 18th birthday in 1961, she met Jack Hackett Chapman on a blind date. They played bridge on that date, were immediately smitten, and married one year later, on September 3, 1962, honeymooning in Lake City, Colorado. They spent the next 62 years of marriage building a family and a lifetime of memories together. Donna and Jack raised their two sons, Russ and Thad, and daughter, Carrie, in the Lake Highlands neighborhood of Dallas. It was a memorable time for the family, marked by leisurely summers, childhood pranks, amiable neighbors, a menagerie of pets, and constant tinkering on home improvement projects. Donna was a collector of colorful knick-knacks; she had a talent for placing each item perfectly in her home, as each had a special meaning or a story to tell.

Over the years, Donna and Jack enjoyed traveling to sites such as the art-centric city of San Miguel de Allende in the highlands of Mexico, and they had a magical three-week European adventure, with the highlight being Italian opera in an outdoor amphitheater in Verona, Italy. Donna relished taking the kids to Oklahoma to see their doting grandparents. They all piled into the wood-panel station wagon, driving from Dallas to Tulsa up I-75, to visit Grandmother Chapman, Gamo and Granddad Day, and great-grandmother Gommer Kasl.

Donna's eight grandchildren grew up with her hugs and squeezes, hair combing, and frequent phone calls, as she was "just checking in to see how things are going." Her granddaughters remember her orchestrating operettas in the car on the drive to Lake Fork to spend a cozy weekend at the lake house. She often commandeered grandkids to watch reruns of her favorite television show, "The Golden Girls." Donna made her trademark cranberry sauce every year for Thanksgiving and has handed down the recipe to continue the tradition. Her Smucker's creamy peanut butter and jam sandwiches are still a grandson's favorite.

Donna worked as a senior corporate receptionist at E-Systems Corporation headquarters in Dallas for 15 years, where she received accolades for her customer relationship management skills and poise in handling security lobby operation duties in a top-secret security environment. Before working with E-Systems, she was a receptionist at Dorchester Company. She was a long-time member of the Dallas Literary Club; they enjoyed monthly book reviews and "warm, lively camaraderie!"

After Donna retired from E-Systems and Jack from Hoechst Celanese, they moved to Land's End on Lake Fork in East Texas. They enjoyed their golden retirement years with friends in the Land's End community, spending time fishing, golfing, attending neighborhood gatherings and holiday parties, taking trips to Tyler, and frequently visiting Dallas. She enjoyed birdwatching through the kitchen window while savoring the view of the peaceful cove on Lake Fork.

Donna was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her beloved husband, Jack, of Dallas; sister Linda Cassidy, of St. George, Utah; sister Cyndy McCown of Norman, Oklahoma; son Russell (Betsy) of Trophy Club, Texas; son Thad (Marianne) of Dallas; daughter Carrie Calhoun (John) of Pottsboro, Texas; granddaughter Jessica McKenzie (Scott) of Topeka, Kansas; granddaughter Maggie Chapman of Frisco, California; granddaughter Courtney Calhoun of San Marcos, Texas; grandson Carter Chapman of Denver, Colorado; grandson Garrett Calhoun of Dallas; grandsons Joseph, Alex, and John Paul Chapman of Dallas; great-granddaughter Harper McKenzie and great-grandson Beau McKenzie of Topeka, Kansas; niece Kim Teis (Rob) of Tulsa, Oklahoma; niece Dana Johnson (Todd) of Naples, Florida; and nephews Chance and Chase McCown of Norman, Oklahoma.

A service will be held on Saturday, September 27, at 11:00 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, located at 9845 McCree Road in Dallas. A reception will immediately follow in the church reception hall.

As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to St. James Episcopal Church https://onrealm.org/StJamesEpiscopa15505/give/memorial