The Chapmans

Howard Chapman began his legal career in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the firm of Shoaff, Keegan & Baird, becoming a partner in 1963. He later cofounded the law firm of Bonahoom, Chapman & McNellis, which, in 1986, merged with Barrett, Barrett and McNagny to form the current firm of BarrettMcNagny, one of Indiana’s oldest law firms, having been established in 1876. During this time, he conducted a thriving law practice, specializing in corporate, banking, real estate, and labor law. He served as a member of the executive committee of BarrettMcNagny during 1986 and 1987. Since retiring from active practice, he continues his relationship as a retired partner of the firm.

He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and all state and federal courts of the State of Indiana. He was a member of the boards of Union Federal Bank and Waterfield Mortgage Company, and was a longtime member of the Legal Issues Committee of the Mortgage Bankers of America. He continues to serve as President of the Waterfield Foundation, and as a Trustee of the Chapman Charitable Trust.

During the 1960s he served as a board member and then President of the Association for Retarded Citizens of Northeast Indiana, the predecessor to the current Easter Seals ARC of Northeast Indiana Inc. During his term as president, he oversaw the construction and operation of the Johnny Appleseed School, the first school in northeast Indiana dedicated to serving children with mental and emotional disabilities.

In 1975, Chapman started what was then known as the Fort Wayne Sister Cities Committee, charged by the mayor of Fort Wayne with the task of forming a sister-city bond between Fort Wayne and a city in another country. This was conceived of as a citywide project to participate in Fort Wayne’s celebration of the national bicentennial the following year. His committee successfully created a sister city relationship with Takaoka, Japan, a relationship that continues to flourish. The Fort Wayne Sister Cities Committee was succeeded by Fort Wayne Sister Cities International Inc., which actively oversees Fort Wayne’s relationships with sister cities in Japan, Poland, China, and Germany, as well as a friendship city in Myanmar. In 2000, Chapman and his wife established the Chapman Sister Cities Exchange Students Fund within the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne (CFGFW). This fund underwrites annual student exchanges between young people in Fort Wayne and in its sister cities. Chapman later created the Chapman Sister Cities Endowment Fund within CFGFW to underwrite other costs related to the Fort Wayne Sister Cities Program. Fort Wayne’s Sister Cities Program has been named by Sister Cities International as one of the country’s outstanding sister-city programs. In 2016, Chapman was recognized by Sister Cities International at its annual meeting in Washington, DC, and presented with its International Volunteer of the Year Award.

Over the years, Chapman has served a number of charitable and professional organizations. He has been president of the Allen County Bar Association, Lincoln Museum, and First Presbyterian Church Foundation. His other past board memberships include the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, United Way of Allen County, Defense Orientation Conference Association, and Community Harvest Food Bank. He is currently a member of the Purdue University Fort Wayne Foundation, and a member of the board of trustees of the Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust. He became a member of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne in 1958, and has served as president of its board of trustees, and as an elder and member of its Session.

In 2001, the Chapmans endowed the first professorship chair at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (now Purdue Fort Wayne). This chair is designated as the Chapman Distinguished Professor of English. In 2007, they established the Chapman Scholars Program. Applicants chosen as Chapman Scholars receive full four-year scholarships, including tuition and room and board, and may pursue any degree. The Chapman Scholars Program originally funded four scholarships each year; however, the Chapmans have, from time to time, increased the endowment to provide for additional students to qualify. Today there are six new Chapman Scholars admitted to PFW each year, or a total of 24 active scholarships at any one time. These scholarships are based entirely on merit, including academic performance and community involvement.

In addition to their philanthropic support of education at PFW, the couple also supported the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. There, they established the Howard and Elizabeth Chapman Scholarship Fund, and endowed a chair designated as the Howard and Elizabeth Chapman Professorship of Law. The Chapman Professor at Northwestern focuses on business law, trial advocacy, or wills and trusts.

Within CFGFW, the Chapmans have created three additional funds: the Chapman Arts Fund, which supports agencies involved in the graphic or performing arts; the John Chapman Fund, which supports agencies providing services to the mentally disadvantaged or physically disabled; and the First Presbyterian Church Fund, which provides support for the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne.

In 2004, Howard and Elizabeth Chapman were each awarded an honorary doctorate degree, doctor of letters, honoris causa, from Purdue University.

Over the years, Howard Chapman has been an avid golfer and tennis player. Other hobbies have included travel and competitive bridge. He holds the rank of Life Master from the American Contract Bridge League.

Elizabeth Waterfield Chapman, known to all her friends as “Betsy,” was born and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She attended South Side High School, graduating with honors, and was elected to National Honor Society. In 2001, she received the Archer Award as an outstanding alumna of South Side.

She enrolled at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, where she met and married her husband, Howard. After pausing her collegiate career to raise a family, she returned to the campus of what was then Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne. At the age of 39, she was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in English by Indiana University.

Chapman was an accomplished musician and pianist who shared her talent throughout Fort Wayne. She was an accompanist for various vocal performers and singing groups. She also provided the musical accompaniment for numerous musical productions produced at Arena Theatre, Fort Wayne Youtheatre, and First Presbyterian Theatre. Her list of musical-accompaniment credits include Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate.

With Nancy Carlson Dodd she coauthored three musical plays for children. One of these, The Magic Pebble, was published by the Samuel French Company. It and the other two plays, Mountain Molly and The Magnificent Plan, have been performed many times locally and nationally.

Chapman was an active member of the university community and Omnibus Speaker Series, presented annually on campus. She also served as a member of the board of trustees of the IPFW Foundation. As a director of Waterfield Mortgage Company, she was instrumental in the participation by that organization in funding the Waterfield Campus, which provides on-campus housing. She and her husband also endowed the first full professorship chair, designated as the Chapman Distinguished Professor of English.

Betsy participated in numerous community and charitable organizations in Fort Wayne, and served on the boards of directors of many of them, including the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Fort Wayne Civic Theater, and Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne. She was an advisory trustee of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, a member of the advisory committee for the College of Arts and Sciences, and board member of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art Alliance, Allen County Public Library Foundation, Morning Musicale, YWCA Advisory Board, Indiana Law Wives, Junior League Garden Club, Parents and Friends of the State Developmental Center, and three literary clubs. In addition, she was a lifelong active and loyal supporter of her college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta.

She attended First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne all her life. She was a Jubilee Member (50-year member), and an elder and member of the Session of that church. She often contributed her musical talents for church services and church events, including playing the organ for Korean services, and providing accompaniment for religious services at nursing homes.

She was an avid reader and traveler, and an enthusiastic golfer and tennis player. She took a keen interest in Fort Wayne’s sister-city program, and valued many close friendships among those she met in exchanges with Fort Wayne’s sister cities. In the year 2000, she and her husband, Howard, established the Chapman Exchange Students Fund within the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne (CFGFW) to provide assistance in academic and cultural exchanges between Fort Wayne and its sister cities. They also established the Chapman Arts Fund, the John Chapman Fund, and the First Presbyterian Church Fund within the CFGFW to provide ongoing support to various charitable groups that serve the Fort Wayne area.

In 2004, Betsy and Howard Chapman were each awarded an honorary doctorate degree, doctor of letters, honoris causa, by Purdue University.

In 2007, the Chapmans endowed the Chapman Scholars Program. This program originally provided a full four-year scholarship to four students each year. They later added additional funds to the Chapman Scholars fund to expand the number of scholarships offered to six. These scholarships are based entirely on merit, including academic performance and community involvement.

The Chapmans also endowed the Howard and Elizabeth Chapman Law Scholarship Fund at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, and in 2013, the couple endowed the Howard and Elizabeth Chapman Professorship of Law, also at the Northwestern University School of Law. The Chapman Professor focuses on business law, trial advocacy, wills and trusts.