Julius Edward Chapman, Jr. (Ed) went to be with his Lord and Savior after a brief illness on

Monday, November 14, 2022.

Ed was born on November 11, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in

Homewood. He attended Edgewood Grammar School, Shades Cahaba High School, and was a

1952 graduate of Shades Valley High School. He graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute

in 1956 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned a 2 nd Lieutenant in

the U.S. Army. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Order social fraternity. Upon graduation, he

began a career of over 35 years with Southern Bell Telephone Company. His telephone career

was interrupted, and he served two years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps initially

at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and then at Governors Island, New York, Headquarters First

Army, Signal Section, where he met Martha Lee Ellison, the love of his life. They were married

April 18, 1959. Returning to Southern Bell, he worked in Birmingham, Atlanta, Louisville,

Kentucky, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and AT&T in Basking

Ridge, New Jersey. He retired in Birmingham from Bell South in 1991 and was a Registered

Professional Engineer in Alabama, a Life Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic

Engineers, and Past Chairman of the Alabama Section of IEEE.

He and Lee moved to Auburn from Birmingham in 2014, where they joined the Auburn

United Methodist Church. He served on the Official Board, and they were members of the Joel

McDavid Sunday School, where he was president, and later joined the McGee-Lacy Class, which

they enjoyed immensely. While living in Birmingham, they were members of Briarwood

Presbyterian Church where he served on the Lay Pastor visitation team for 18 years.

He was a dedicated and loyal Auburn fan. He served as president of the Jefferson

County Auburn Club in 1975, was a Life Member of the Alumni Association, a Life Member of

the Alumni Engineering Council, a member of the 1856 Society, the All-American Society, the

Keystone Society, the Diamond Club, a football and basketball scholarship donor, president of

the Tip-Off Club 2010-2012, member of the baseball 108 Club, awarded Outstanding Alumnus

of the Electrical Engineering Department in 2001, and sponsor of the Ed and Lee Chapman

Endowed Scholarship in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. He was a past member of

Vestavia Country Club in Birmingham.

He took immense pride in his children and grandchildren and their careers and

accomplishments and followed them closely. He enjoyed woodworking, carpentry, tinkering,

home and auto repairs, and while in Birmingham his telephone company retiree golf foursome.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Julius Edward Chapman, Sr. and Doris Baggett

Chapman of Birmingham and Camden. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Lee Ellison

Chapman, daughter, Catherine ("Cathy") Anne Chapman Whatley (Warren) of Birmingham, son

J.E. ("Jay") Chapman, III of Birmingham (Luanne), three granddaughters, Mary Katherine

Whatley Wilkins (Levi) of Birmingham, Olivia Baggett Whatley of Birmingham, and Lee Ellison

Chapman of Augusta, GA, and one grandson, Austin Gravlee Chapman (Ann) of Mobile.

A memorial service and celebration of Ed's life will be held at 2:00PM Friday, November

18, 2022 at the Auburn United Methodist Church, Reverends Tom Caradine and Charles

Cummings officiating. The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the service,

and there will also be a reception at the church afterwards.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Auburn United

Methodist Church or the Ed and Lee Chapman Endowed Scholarship in the Samuel Ginn College

of Engineering at Auburn University.

Frederick-Dean Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.