Robert P. Chapman

One day while reading the newspaper, Bob Chapman asked his son if he knew what the leading cause of death in Victoria was. His son didn’t know. Gesturing at the obituary page, Bob informed him that it was a great sense of humour. Indeed, almost everyone included there was noted for his or her sense of humour. When faced with such a disquieting fact, one can either determine to become a curmudgeon or keep on laughing in the face of what inevitably faces us all. Bob kept his humour wry and dry for 85 years, until succumbing to pneumonia on September 25, 2011.

Robert, the son of Robert Harris and Mary (Pringle) Chapman, was born in Hartland, NB. He graduated in physics from Mount Allison, McGill and the University of Saskatchewan. In 1953 he joined the Naval Research Establishment in Dartmouth, NS, where he established himself as an expert in underwater acoustic reverberation. In 1973 he transferred to the Defence Research Establishment Pacific (DREP) in Esquimalt, BC, to lead an investigation in the use of towed arrays in passive sonar. During his last decade there he was Director of the Physics Research Division. He retired in 1995, after which he edited and contributed to a history of DREP, Alpha and Omega, published in 1997.

Bob enjoyed playing duplicate bridge, eating lobsters, listening to operas, researching his family tree (disappointingly, none of his ancestors, mostly hardy Yorkshire farmers, turned out to be a colourful scoundrel), refining his anecdotes, watching English murder mysteries on TV, supporting the Mount Allison Mounties football team, and thinking Conservatively. He was predeceased by his brother, Jack, and through the years continued to take great pleasure in his weekly telephone conversations with his sister-in-law, Ollie. He is survived by daughter, Laura (Frazer) of Dartmouth, daughter, Janet of Montreal, son, Brian of Victoria and grandchildren, Tamara (Alec), Amanda and Peter. They will miss him. Bob’s family would like to give special thanks to Viktor and the other home support staff of Beacon Community Services, Dr. Ted Rosenberg and his team and the nursing and respiratory staff at the Victoria General Hospital. After cremation, Bob’s ashes will be interred in the family plot in Port Elgin, NB. There will be no service. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com.