By Wafir Salih | wsalih@alextimes.com
Michele Irene Taylor Chapman, former chair of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s board, former Alexandria City Public Schools employee and mother of City Councilor John Taylor Chapman, died on July 18. She was 68.
In an interview with the Times, John Chapman said his mother instilled values of community service, faith and being humble in him.
“One of the biggest lessons she taught me was: Make sure you leave a place better than you found it, and work towards that,” John Chapman said. “You know, make sure you’re giving back to your community, make sure you stay faithful to your religious purpose, take care of family, look out for those who might not have as much as you and never ever think of yourself as being too big for everybody.”
On Facebook, John Chapman received an outpouring of love and support from the community when he announced his mother had passed away.
“Mama Chapman was a bright light for so many of us and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to know her. You and your family made her so proud but I know you already know that!” a community member wrote in the comment section.
“John – I am so sorry to learn this. She was amazing. I can still hear her cheering you on at lacrosse games. May you continue to hear her incredible voice,” another community member wrote.
Michele Chapman was born on Nov. 16, 1955, in Alexandria. She was raised on Wilkes Street and attended Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy along with her siblings. She graduated from T.C. Williams High School, now Alexandria City High School.
In her professional career, Chapman spent more than a decade working at the United States Department of Labor. She worked various jobs, but her most notable positions were at ACPS, where she worked for more than 20 years. She was an assistant teacher at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, office assistant in the transportation department and secretary of the central office of the school district.
“She cared about a number of kids. Working in our schools had a profound effect on a number of children that went to MacArthur,” John Chapman said. “Some of those folks still remember her from their days in elementary school.”
Chapman was deeply involved in the community. She served as the chair of ARHA’s board, was a member of the city’s Economic Opportunities Commission and the Parent Teacher Association at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School – where John Chapman and his sister Jennifer Chapman attended school – and participated in the Urban League and their Resource Mothers Program.
Chapman encouraged her children to be involved in community service and athletics as they grew up. John said he became active in soccer because of his mother’s encouragement.
“She really allowed us and pushed us to kind of get involved in our communities – and not just get involved in our communities – understand and know our communities as well,” John Chapman said.
John Chapman recalled his mother taking him and his sister to local museums every Saturday morning to gain an appreciation of history and the community surrounding them.
“Saturday mornings for her meant getting us up around 6:30, 7 a.m. and putting us on a bus or a train into [Washington,] D.C. to visit one of the various museums,” John Chapman said. “We’ve probably, during my childhood, visited pretty much every Smithsonian Museum that there is in the D.C. area and some of the other ones as well. But that was really to expose me and my sister to the richness of this area, and make sure that we understood, regardless of socioeconomic status, there were still opportunities for us to be exposed to, things to learn, to grow, to kind of understand our communities and what exists around us.”
John Chapman said one of the memories he’ll never forget was when he was making his first run for City Council and he was preparing to walk in a parade with his campaign materials.
“A couple friends and I the night before had put together some cardboard cutout letters and some basic cardboard and put ‘Chapman for Council’ in different colored letters on pieces of paper, to carry as our signs in the parade. … We were looking for any volunteers that could walk with us in the parade,” John Chapman said.
John Chapman said his mother, at that time, wasn’t very mobile and preferred not to walk long distances. She told him that even though she couldn’t walk the parade, she would cheer him on from the sidelines. He and six volunteers got their signs and went out to march, and once they arrived at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, early in the parade route, he was surprised by a visit from his mom.
“She popped up, she had her walking shoes on and she walked with us the entire parade, holding a sign, yelling, chanting all that stuff,” Chapman said. “I think that’s one of the key memories, like, any time, she had the chance to support me or support my sister, she did it without a hesitation.”
Chapman was a devout member of the Alfred Street Baptist Church which she often attended multiple times a week. John Chapman said she kept faith top of mind in their household growing up.
“She had a rule on Sunday: You went to church and then you did everything else,” John said. “If you had a soccer game, if you didn’t go to church, you didn’t go to that soccer game. So faith has always been a part of who she was growing up, and kind of the legacy that she left with us as well.”
Chapman was heavily involved in the movement to have T.C. Williams renamed to ACHS in 2020 following the protests that same summer for George Floyd.
“She did not relish in that name of being a T.C. alumni. She was actively pushing for that name to be changed, and when it happened, she was very excited,” John Chapman said.
Chapman was also a community advocate for affordable housing. John Chapman relayed a story his mother used to tell him about how, around 2003 and 2004, she advocated against the displacement of residents that would follow the redevelopment of Chatham Square. He noted, however, that he had not confirmed the details of the story, as it was passed down to him.
“She always told me that the city wanted to redevelop the site and not bring back any other residents, so she fought with some of the city leadership, and I believe she also said [former] Mayor [Bill] Euille as well, to make sure some of the residents could come back,” John Chapman said. “I think she was able to fight for like a third of residents being able to come back, where that hadn’t been the case before.”
Chapman was an avid collector of butterflies in her free time. She also enjoyed watching movies, reading books and learning about history.
Michele Chapman is survived by her son, John Chapman, his wife, Monika Jones Chapman, and their son, John Chapman II, who is her grandson. She is also survived by her older sister, two brothers and several nephews. Michele is predeceased by her daughter, Jennifer Chapman, who died in 2020.
A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on July 30 at Alfred Street Baptist Church.