Thomas Chapman

Thomas "Tom" Chapman, age 74, of Faribault and formerly of St. Paul, died Saturday, February 9, 2013 at the Cerenity Care Center in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home & Crematory of Faribault, with Rev. Craig Breimhorst, officiating. Interment will be held at the Meadow Ridge Memorial Park in Faribault, with military honors provided by the Rice County Central Veterans Association.

Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m.

Thomas Wayne, the son of Gordon and Thelma (Braaten) Chapman, was born on August 3, 1938 in Faribault. Tom joined the United States Navy in 1957 and later received an honorable discharge in 1961. After returning to Minnesota, Tom worked in the construction field with Union 132 in the Twin Cities area. They worked on many large projects including the IDS Tower, Lafayette Bridge, Victory Road and Ramp near the Mall of America and many others. Tom was united in marriage to Saverna Oppegard in Faribault in 1962. They had four children together and later divorced in 1983.

Tom loved spending time outside. Whether it was bird and nature watching at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault or fishing at the lake, he was always sure to enjoy the time. Although he was self trained, Tom always loved playing his guitar and banjo while listening to his favorite blue grass music pieces. He also enjoyed flying and driving remote control airplanes, boats and cars. Tom will always be remembered for all the garage saling he enjoyed doing, often times giving his purchases to many of his family members.

He is survived by his children, Leslie Chapman of Los Angeles, California, Stephen (Lisa) Chapman of South St. Paul, Renee Chapman of Maplewood and Thomas Christopher Chapman of Minneapolis; his step daughter, Andrea Sullivan of Maplewood; his five grandchildren, Camille, Stevie, Dominic, Cody and Shane; his siblings, Walter (Mary Jo) Chapman of Faribault, Charles Chapman of Faribault, LaDonna Boudreau of Faribault, Susan (Bob) Jones of Faribault, Debra (Nevin) Winkle of Andover and Kay Luchsinger of Little Canada, MN; his sister in law, Vicky Chapman of Stillwater; his special nieces, Carla and Samantha; his special great niece and best buddy, Courtney and by many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Gerald; brother in law, Darrell Boudreau; nephew, Nathan Winkle and by his step father, Mike Mash.