Michael Eugene Chapman

Michael Eugene Chapman passed away on August 14, 2025. Despite the loss of our brother, we are blessed to have known and shared his life, which was marked by his passion for music, his love of nature and his family's history, and by the kindness and good will he showed everyone who came within his circle. Michael was born on September 1, 1948 to Robert Chapman and Mary Dauenhauer Chapman, in Los Angeles, California. He grew up with three younger sisters, Anita, Loretta, and Cathy in the Southern California suburbs of Whittier and Hacienda Heights. He graduated from Bishop Amat High School in 1967, and then from California State University at Los Angeles in 1973 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications. After school, Mike worked in distribution with the United Parcel Service, and then in security with a Southern California real estate developer before his retirement in 2007. Mike was an avid student of his family's history, and was always a font of information about the people, places, and events of the Chapman and Dauenhauer families. He loved nature, choosing to live in Lake Tahoe and Cambria, California and ultimately, in Yachats, Oregon where he could experience the purity of a crisp morning with the sun peeking gently through morning cloud, and then the thunderous downpour that would always lead to the verdant greens of nearby forests and the motley colors of flowers he cultivated in the gardens of his homes. Above all else, Michael loved music. From the upbeat sounds of the Big Band era, to the beautiful melodies of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin, and the creative complexity of jazz, he never tired of his music, often going to live performances where he'd spend time speaking with the stars about a history and sound he knew so well. Michael Chapman was a kind, intelligent man whose spirit will live on in all of us who loved him. May he rest in the peace of our Lord.