John T. Chapman

John Thomas Chapman, age 77, passed away at his home on Thursday, August 15, 2024. 

John Thomas Chapman was born in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, to the late Murdoch Chapman and Doris Green (Muriel Carnegie), Scottish immigrants. 

John graduated from Cooley High School in 1965 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in English, a master's, and an EdD in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University. 

After completing college, John worked as a VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), also known as the Peace Corps, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana and later taught science at Mackenzie High School in Detroit.

He then moved to Kalamazoo for graduate college. He worked at Van Buren Technology Center for forty years, leaving an indelible mark on the community. His dedication to helping students make career decisions and developing programs like EDP and Student Managed Portfolio will be remembered. 

He also taught part-time at WMU for fifteen years. He worked part-time at Kalamazoo Valley Community College after retirement, where he developed the C-360 to assist students in visually comparing career test results. 

He met and married Peggy Beth in Kalamazoo in 1974. They lived on Gourdneck Lake for fifty years and enjoyed water sports such as paddle boarding, sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, and boating. They raised two sons, Andrew and Duncan. John coached them in little league baseball, hockey, and soccer. He went through scouting with both sons, who attained the rank of Eagle Scout. 

John was also a hiker and backpacker. In 2010, he hiked the West Highland Way with Duncan in Scotland. In 2000, he trekked Machu Picchu with Andrew. John hiked segments of the Appalachian Trail with Doug Leversee. His favorite hike was with both sons to Ice Lake in Colorado in 2013.

John loved music. He played guitar, banjo, bagpipes, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, and spoons, to name a few. Playing guitar with Doug Dykehouse was a favorite pastime. Peggy and John played their ukuleles almost every night. 

After retirement, John’s passion for poetry and writing grew. He wrote songs, essays, plays, and poems. Three of his poems are scheduled to be published in the fall edition of Steel Jackdaw. Doug Dykehouse illustrated the covers of John’s three chapbooks. John has a YouTube channel called Poemography. 

John leaves behind his wife, Peggy, and two sons. Duncan lives in Portage, Michigan. Andrew, along with his wife, Diane, and granddaughter, Maya, reside in Sandy, Utah. The last food John ate was an ice cream cone with Maya. John’s life mission was to empower others. 

John passed away from esophageal gastric cancer. Keep him in your heart awhile.

The family honored John’s life with a private memorial.

A tree and bench will be placed at Prairie View Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or Operation Fix It at the Kalamazoo Humane Society.