Martin Jeffrey Chapman Sr.

"Marty." "Chapman." "Papi." "Old guy." No matter what you called him, Martin Jeffrey Chapman Sr. was a great husband, great dad and all around great guy. He could fix anything - which was good, because he brought home the most random mechanical stuff! From Prudhoe Bay to Seward, he traveled all over Alaska and loved every square inch. He even went international, visiting Norway, the United Kingdom, and various Middle Eastern countries.

Born in Murray, Utah, on March 5, 1961, Martin spent much of his childhood in Salt Lake City when it was much smaller than it is now. He lived in Norway for two years on a mission for his church, which sparked a lifelong love for all things Scandanavian. While on his mission, his father recommended writing to a pen pal back home - a pen pal that ended up being the love of his life, Marie. Upon his return to the states, he landed in Colorado to meet Marie in person, and boom! True love took over, and they got married on Valentine's Day in 1983. They went on to have six kids, all of whom are amazing (yes, we wrote this).

Martin joined the Army in 1983, which took him across the United States, the world, and in 1989, to Alaska. He deployed several times to the Middle East, and while he didn't exactly love it, he did have some great memories of his time in the desert, including the time he searched Saddam Hussein's palace. It was empty, but hey, cool story, right!? He retired from the Army in 2013 and embraced retirement life to the fullest. He was able to start a huge garden to feed his family (so. many. potatoes.) and was able to tinker and putter in the garage to his heart's content. He loved to hunt, fish and camp, and passed that love down to (some) of his kids. (Other kids want nature to stay far away.)

Martin passed away in his favorite place - home. He had just finished watering the garden and had laid down to take a nap. That last nap came way too soon for any of us, and we miss him very, very much.

Martin was preceded in death by his parents, H. Brent Chapman and Connie Vlamis, and his brothers, Chris and Shane. He is survived by the love of his life of 42 years, Marie Chapman of North Pole, and his six children, Amy Gauger and Michael Chapman of Layton, Utah; Martin Jr. (Jane), Tiffany, Kira (Scott), and Ian Chapman, all of Fairbanks and North Pole. He is also survived by two grandchildren, Dennis and Jacob Gauger. See you when we get there Dad, keep your stick on the ice! :x