Former Henryetta football coach Richard Wayne Chapman died May 21, 2020 in Tulsa from complications due to COVID-19.. He was born Sept, 1, 1928, to Byron and Charlotte “Zoe” (Beal) Chapman in Jefferson, Oklahoma on the property homesteaded by his maternal grandfather, Oliver Beal, in the land run of 1889.
Richard grew up in and around Pond Creek, OK, and graduated from Pond Creek High School in 1946. After earning a Bachelor of Science in History at Panhandle A & M, Richard enlisted in the Navy and served for two years. With an honorable discharge, he found employment teaching history and driver’s ed, and coaching football at Henryetta High School, where he met Marilyn, who was the vocal music teacher at the Jr. High school. They married in 1956 and had two children before moving to Tulsa in 1963, where Richard had been hired as head track coach and a history teacher at the year-old Memorial High School.
In 1965, “Coach” as he became known, was hired as head football coach at Edison High School, where, in his second season, he led his team to win the District Championship title. Coach was named Tulsa Tribune Coach of the Year in 1966. He coached and taught at Edison for seven years before returning to Memorial High School as head tennis coach. He retired for a year in 1986, before being hired to coordinate the in-house program at Nathan Hale High School, a position he held for several years before retiring completely. In 1988, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame, and also was inducted into both the Edison High School and Memorial High School Coaches Halls of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Track Coaches Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Oklahoma Coaches Association, Oklahoma Officials Association, was an All-State Coach in 1963, and helped coach the Memorial Chargers to their State Championship title in 1980.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers: Merle and wife, Betty Jo; Eugene and wife, Dixie; Dale and wife, Mary; sister, Lois Wood, and husband, Weldon “Woody;” and wife, Louise.
He is survived by his daughter, Joan Hatley; grandsons: Dylan Hatley; and Jonathan Hatley, and wife, Ellie; son, David Chapman, and wife Melissa; granddaughter, Crystal Chapman; great-granddaughters: Danica Sims and Sabrina Davis; grandson, Daxon Chapman, and wife Amanda; great-grandson, Reece Chapman; grandson, Timothy Chapman; step-granddaughters: Bronwyn Spain, husband, John, and their son, Jess; and Cecily Tawney; mother of his children, Dr. Marilyn Carver; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Private service. Visitation: Thursday, May 28, 2020, 2 to 4 p.m., Floral Haven Funeral Home, 6420 S. 129th E. Ave, Tulsa, OK. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Muscular Dystrophy Association.