M. Perry Chapman Jr.
BELMONT/BOSTON, Mass. _ M. Perry Chapman Jr., 76, of Belmont, Boston, Mass., died unexpectedly, Dec. 8, 2011.
Beloved husband of Dawn L. (Wilbur) Chapman; dear and devoted father of Anne (Chapman) Doran and her husband, Peter (Brattleboro, Vt.); Susan (Chapman) Houy and her husband, Xavier (Paris, France) and Jennifer Chapman (Arlington, Mass.); loving grandfather of Samuel and Lee Doran and Axel and Lola Houy; brother of Dennis Chapman (Utica); half brother of Bradford Chapman (New York), Bonita Vanalstine (New York) and Gregory Chapman (Florida).
Relatives and friends attended a funeral service in the Short, Williamson & Diamond Funeral Home in Belmont, Monday, Dec. 12, 2011. Interment was in Highland Meadow Cemetery, Belmont.
Mr. Chapman was born in Fly Creek in 1935, to Milton and Emily (Morris) Chapman, and graduated Cooperstown Central School in 1954. He attended Cornell University, graduating in 1960, with an architecture degree.
Married in 1957, he and his childhood sweetheart, Dawn, moved to Rochester in 1960, where he worked for several years in the City Planning Bureau.
In 1964, he joined Sasaki Associates in Watertown, Mass., enjoying over a 45 year tenure. Made a Principal of the firm in 1985, he headed their campus planning practice. Mr. Chapman provided master planning services to over 85 colleges and universities including Cornell, U of Illinois, Berkeley, Ohio State, Northwestern, U of Missouri and U of South Florida.
His regional planning projects included environmental impact studies and master plans for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as well as a recreation/tourism plan for the New York State Canal System.
Mr. Chapman authored over 20 articles, essays and a 2006 book titled "American Places: In Search of the 21st Century Campus." He was a member of the Cornell Architectural Review Committee and for 25 years a member of the Belmont, Mass., Planning Board and the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council, serving twice as a member of the MAPC Executive Committee.
His contributions to the profession received national recognition with awards including the prestigious 2008 Founders Award from the Society of College and University Planners and his induction in 2010 to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
An avid hiker, camper and world traveler, Mr. Chapman, with wife, Dawn, supported many Boston area cultural events including the Boston Classical Orchestra, Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art.
At the time of his passing, he was working on a second book involving the American Revolution.
Contributions in his memory can be made to the Boston Classical Orchestra, P.O. Box 152, Newton, MA 02468 and tributes to him can be sent to www.swdfuneralhome.com.
