Samuel James Chapin's Obituary
Samuel James Chapin (Sam), 97, passed away on January 10, 2025, at his home in Eustis, Florida.
He was born to Roger E. and Mildred Armstrong Chapin on May 13, 1927, and was Mildred’s birthday present. He was predeceased by his brothers, John Chapin and Charles “Chick” Chapin, and his wife of 55 years, Marjorie Thomes Chapin.
He is survived by his sons Mark, David, and Steven, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Sam enjoyed an active childhood running around in the woods and on the farms of Central Illinois but discovered his lifelong love of sailing at Lake Springfield and bought his first Snipe at 16. When he graduated from Springfield High School, he joined the Navy and was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Amphibious Force as a fireman on an LST heading for Japan in 1945. Two attacking kamikazes did not get past their air defenses, and Sam had no fires to put out that day. When the war ended, the mission changed from invasion to bringing the troops home. After the early end-of-war Naval discharge, he spent the summer as a lifeguard at Lake Springfield before enrolling in Carleton College, where he studied chemistry. He was accepted to the University of Rochester Medical School in 1948 and left Carleton College early to travel, visiting Key West, where he had a Navy port call. At the University of Rochester, Sam met his wife, Marjorie, an instructor at the Nursing School. They married in 1956, and Sam completed residencies at Mount Sinai in Miami and Cleveland Clinic, where Mark was born. Sam was a Pathology Fellow and had a Degree in Surgery.
Sam and Marjorie moved to Springfield with their three-week-old son, where Sam began his Internal Medicine practice with Marjorie as his office manager. Marjorie crewed for Sam, racing his Snipe at Lake Springfield and the Midwest circuit, and traveled to the National circuit. The couple added sons David and Steven, who would become added ballast for their Thistle, ALL HANDS, where the children slept on the spinnaker bags by the mast during much of the racing. During this time, Sam began building fiberglass sailing prams with his friends in his garage for the youth sailing program. Supporting youth sailing became a constant interest for the rest of his life. Sam formed Springfield Internal Medicine Associates with Gersh Greening and Noah Dixon, where he practiced internal medicine until retiring in 1986. He moved to his home on Lake Springfield in 1970, where he finished raising his three sons. There, he engaged in various hobbies and got deeper into boating, especially sailing. He amassed a small navy and lined his southern shore with boat docks. He purchased the first Windsurfer in Central Illinois and was one of the few outside New England with an International Sailing Canoe. In addition to sailing locally at Island Bay Yacht Club, where he had served as Commodore, he traveled the Midwest and National racing circuits with his family for various class boats — Snipe, Thistle, Sunfish, and Laser, and supported Olympic Sailing. He was a maven of the sailing rules and a USYRU Judge.
He had multiple types of rowing craft, including sculls, rowboats, canoes, and kayaks, one of which he built himself. Sam began painting, throwing pots, and sculpting before he retired, and he dove deeper afterward. Family vacations to Aspen, Vail, Maine, and Key West settled into semiannual trips to Florida. . Scuba and skin diving also were hobbies, and Sam dove on wrecks from the frigid waters of Door County to Key West. Sam and Marge became enchanted by the Keys, especially Key West. As a result, Marge acquired a condominium at Key West by the Sea with Sam’s brother, John. That intro led to their acquiring more property in Key West, including what would become his next home for 20 years. When Sam and Marge left the snow for Key
West, they embraced their new home's history, culture, art, and literary offerings. It was this period that Sam said was the happiest time of his life. Sam accumulated more boats. He was still sailing his sunfish and laser and racing them in the Around the Island Race and weekly Sailing Club races. He expanded into racing a J24 against, among other friends, John Smittle of J/World Charters. In addition to Marjorie, Sam counted the Key West Coast Guard Commander, among others, as his crew. Sam’s brother John was a regular visitor and accompanied Sam and Marjorie to The Red Barn Theatre, The Hot Tin Roof, and walks on Duval Street visiting the art galleries. They volunteered for Dry Tortugas duty. Sam and Marjorie taught navigation and weather as Key West Power Squadron members. Sam’s practice of medicine continued at the VA Clinic where he would row his boat, from his home, across Cow Key Channel to the Navy property, to see patients for twenty years. His artwork hung in the rehabilitation center there.
Sam did a stint as a charter boat captain for a sailing catamaran charter out of Schooner Wharf. It was in Key West Bight that Sam won several Minimal Regatta events, and many subsequent winners copied his wave piercer design. Sam became involved in preserving the Bight and the City’s effort to purchase the property from the Singleton family. He was presented with a framed photograph of the Bight from the middle of the last century by the Trust for Public Land, and the inscription reads: The Key West Bight will be preserved for future generations thanks to the leadership and vision of Sam Chapin. That award, something very dear to him, was on the wall next to Sam’s chair, among his paintings, after he and Marjorie moved to Eustis, Florida, in 2005. Sam and Marge found a new home with the Lake Eustis Sailing Club, where Sam once again established a youth sailing program. They organized and ran races at the club and hosted pizza parties after the races. Sam engaged with the local art community. They enjoyed the local theatres, such as the IceHouse Theatre and Bay Street Players. Sam lost Marjorie in 2011 and kept her ashes in a closet for eventual spreading with his.
Sam continued his mission without his partner and sailed until he was 91. Sam loved to walk. He would walk to and attend services at all the churches in the area. He would walk and visit with old friends and make new ones. Art, down at Almands, referred to Sam as a treasure. One day, a young fellow lost his wallet after forgetting it on top of his car. After two people spent two futile days searching, Sam put on his large hat and started down the street. A few hours later, Sam returned with the wallet, flattened from being run over, also recovered were a driver's license, bank card, and several run-over bills he found scattered along the roadside. The happy owner reported it was all there except for a few dollars. Sam was 87 years old at the time.
Sailor, Windsurfer, Kayaker, Rower, Canoeist, Scuba Diver, Photographer (darkroom and all), Artist, Boat Builder, Hockey Father, Author, Reader, Runner, Wrestler, Stargazer, Grandfather, Physician.
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