Charles James (Jim) Chapman, AUHS Class of 1945, passed away July 18, 2014, of natural causes at his home in Anaheim at the age of 87. Jim was born in Sigourney, Iowa on Jan. 7, 1927. Tired of shoveling snow in Iowa, he moved with his family to Anaheim in 1941.
At age 16, he joined the US Navy where he would spend the next 30 years of his life serving in WW II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. His chosen area of Naval service was a Boatswains Mate, one of the oldest and most distinguished rates in the Navy. This rate, however, kept Jim away from his family much of the time, as it was a shipboard deck position so he worked hard and rose to the rate of Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate, the highest rate in the Navy without being an officer. He was also a Company Commander in San Diego at the Naval Training Center, training young sailors in boot camp and worked as Shore Patrol in Long Beach. After his Naval service and military retirement in 1972, Jim got his real estate and broker’s license and spent the rest of his life in the Orange County area listing and selling property.
In 1948, he married the love of his life Phyllis Ruth (Petey) Hill, also an Anaheim High graduate. They would have been married 66 years on July 21. Jim is survived by his wife, Phyllis; son Mark Chapman of San Clemente and his wife Diane; daughter, Tracie Keough of Yorba Linda and her husband Tom; and his grandson, Mark Keough, also of Yorba Linda. For his last and final deployment, Jim will be buried at sea with full military honors.
