Robert E. Chapman Sr., 85

Robert Chapman Sr.

NAPLES — Robert E. Chapman Sr., of Naples, Maine, passed away on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, with his youngest daughter by his side at the Androscoggin Hospice Home in Auburn.

He was born on Sept. 15, 1933, in Harrison, Maine, to Irene Burnham and Gerald K. Chapman, and graduated from Bridgton High School. He started driving truck and plowing snow for his grandfather’s business, Chapman Express, in high school. 

He married Hazel Gilman on Jan. 24, 1953, and eventually moved to Fryeburg, where they raised four children. In the mid ‘50s, Bob started his own trucking business hauling logs, helping to clear the Kancamagus Scenic Byway connecting it from Conway to Lincoln, N.H. The “Kanc” officially opened in Aug. ’59. He also hauled logs in the Great North Woods in Aroostook County. Bob, his brother-in-law, Dick Gilman Jr., and father-in-law Rich Gilman Sr., of Ashland, Maine, only owned and operated Mack trucks. Bob and Dick Gilman Jr. would often have competitions driving their Mack logging trucks to see who could haul the largest load of logs the farthest distance and get to their destination in the fastest time. Bob was also a talented welder and mechanic. In the late ‘60s, Bob worked for Green Thumb Farms, designing and fabricating trailers for hauling potatoes. He worked for Burnham Bros. in Naples, Maine, driving concrete trucks and welding for them. When Burnham Bros. retired the business, he hauled logs for Big Brook in Ashland, and drove truck for P&K Sand & Gravel in Naples and Yarmouth Lumber before retiring in 1996.  

Bob loved to play checkers and looked forward to playing regularly with a special friend, Sherry Jorgenson. No matter how he was feeling, just the mention of playing checkers would make his face light up. Bob loved to be in a truck. He enjoyed watching the “American Loggers” TV show based in Millinocket, Maine, and watching his younger brother-in-law, Steve “Gilly” Gilman, hauling logs on the Golden Road.

He was predeceased by two sons, Jeffrey Chapman in 2013 and Robert E. Chapman Jr. in 2016, both of Casco; as well as Hazel Chapman in 2004. He is survived by two daughters: Debra Williams (Monterral) of Naples, and Jeannie Chute (Bradley) of Casco; a brother, Andy Flagg Jr. (Pauline) of Otisfield; a sister, Marlene McConkey (Rick), of Naples; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17th, at 1 p.m., at the Forest Hills Cemetery on Kansas Road in Bridgton, followed by a reception at the Naples Town Gym.