In Memoriam

Larry Chapman

Obituary

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Oct. 14, 2016

Lawrence Yeoman Chapman, Jr., AIA, 73, born in New Orleans LA, an unfailingly kind and decent man, died on October 11, 2016, at his Philadelphia PA home, from the complications of Lewy Body Dementia.

He was preceded in death by his parents Margarita Lopez-Trelles Lamb Chapman and Lawrence Yeoman Chapman of Bay St. Lewis MS, and by his first wife Eugenia Robertson Becker Chapman.

Larry graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School, Metairie LA, and received his BA at Yale University (Phi Beta Kappa) and his Masters in Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Over his career, he designed and managed architectural projects large and small, from private residences to healthcare facilities and entertainment venues throughout the United States. One of his favorite projects was the Garden State Race Track. He had a role in the New Market development in Philadelphia, as well as the renewal and expansion of the Inner Harbor and Fells Point areas of Baltimore.

He worked for a number of architectural firms, among them Louis Sauer Associates, Ewing-Cole, and Jacobs Engineering.

Larry loved his work, his immediate and his very extended family, his Country Day classmates and Yale friends, and his many, many lunches at Murray's with his best friend and fellow architect David Brossart.

A 23-year Chestnut Hill resident, Larry was a board member and trustee of The Montessori School, Dresher PA, and a volunteer set designer at Old Academy Players, East Falls, Philadelphia.

He is survived by his wife Helga Krauss, son Lawrence Yeoman Chapman III, stepsons Daniel Krauss-Kowalchuk, Christopher (Robin) Becker, Tony (Leslie) Becker, stepdaughter Christina (Brian Fahy) Kowalchuk, and six grandchildren, Ben, Tim, Jeremy and Grace Becker, Jasper and Tessa Fahy-Kowalchuk.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice of Philadelphia or a charity of the donor's choice will be appreciated.

Published in The Times-Picayune on Oct. 14, 2016

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Remembrance of Larry Chapman

by Bill Gould, '64

Larry was my roommate for three years at Davenport, we were each other’s Best Man, and we enjoyed a lifelong friendship. His personality had a wonderful consistency, a kind of — to use a phrase he would allow with a grin — high definition, whereby his artistic temperament, his laconic thoughtfulness, and his invariably at-the-ready sense of humor could punctuate any exchange without commanding it.

My conviction is that he was an architect’s architect who brought these personal gifts to bear on many different building projects. He once remarked to me, “There seem to have been only two questions throughout the entire history of architecture: First, “Will the building stand up?” and second, “How much will it cost?”

Larry was very glad to attend our 50th Class Reunion and was especially keen to visit Edward P. Evans Hall, the new School of Management building. After touring the building, we were standing on the second floor, looking out at the inner courtyard, our hands on a delicate rail with the first floor lying directly below us. “It’s a masterpiece!” he exclaimed. “But this rail isn’t finished off properly…”

In our room in the crosspiece at Davenport, he had a painting on the wall over his desk, a picture of two Napoleonic-era frigates squared off against each other in battle, firing away fiercely. Larry put under it a caption in ornate letters: “The Spirit of Philosophy.”

And so, let’s part for now with two classical allusions:

Larry, requiescas in pace.

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[Webmaster's note: The first allusion translates "Art is long, life is short." The second allusion is the motto of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and translates "Love of learning is the guide of life."]