Pat Chapman, 1926-2011, !Presente!
(APN) ATLANTA — Pat Chapman, 85, a lifelong advocate for the less fortunate who continued her activism on the computer after becoming home-bound, passed away from complications from a stroke, on Monday, May 16, 2011.
Over the last fifteen years, Chapman had been a champion for the Democratic Party, even from her home in East Cobb County, a Conservative bastion in Metro Atlanta.
The East Cobb Democratic Alliance sent out an email earlier today lamenting the passing of “beloved Cobb Democrat Pat Chapman.”
Chapman was also a loyal supporter of former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), unlike some Georgia Democrats who turned on McKinney after various controveries. She was also an avid reader and supporter of Atlanta Progressive News dating back to 2006.
In recent years, Chapman become known forwarding emails for progressive causes and Democratic Party causes to her wide email list. Her emails went out to elected officials and activists.
“vOTE FOR dIANNELORE RUNNING IN THE 41 DTSTRIC IN cOB cTY. tHIS IS FROM THE gA. dEMOCRATIC pARTY.Love Pat Chapman,” the 85 year-old wrote in her most recent email, dated October 15, 2010.
RuthE Levy, an activist who has run for State House and State Senate seats in East Cobb, was sad to hear the news of Chapman’s passing.
“She was always a good supporter of mine,” Levy told APN. “If I needed her to get something out for me, I’d say Pat get it out, she’d get it out for me.”
“She was a dedicated Democrat, she did as much as she could wherever she was. She was basically homebound for the last couple of years, but she could send out emails and so she did and she kept us all informed.”
“She was dedicated to Democratic ideals and very supportive of Democratic candidates. She was just a very, very fine person. She was energetic, always on the go. Up until recently she was at every meeting, wasn’t hesitant to speak her minds by any means. A wonderful example of not letting age deter your passion for what’s right,” Beth Farokhi, a candidate in 2010 for State School Superintendent, said.
Chapman is survived by her daughter, Billie Anne Chapman Puckett.
Chapman was born in 1926 in West Virginia, and lived in Kentucky and North Carolina before moving to Georgia in 1938.
She attended Bass Junior High School and Girl’s High School in Atlanta.
She married William S. Chapman, and had one daugter, Billie Anne.
She worked various sales jobs for Sears Roebuck and Company, Southern Brass Company, and Curtis Publishing Company, before beginning her work in fair housing.
In 1970, she became a field representative with the Community Relations Commission of Atlanta, where she specialized in discrimination, neighborhood stabilization, and fair housing efforts.
“When our neighborhood in Decatur was transitioning from White to Black, mother tried to stop discrimination, scare tactics used by real estate agents, and stopping whites from moving out,” Chapman Puckett told APN.
Chapman was instrumental in drafting and lobbying for fair housing legislation which passed in the State of Georgia.
Mr. Chapman passed away in 1990, and then Pat moved in Cobb County in 1993, where she turned to electoral politics as an activist for the Democratic Party.
Chapman has received numerous awards, including from the Older Atlantans Task Force, the Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church Outreach Ministry, Interfaith Incorporated, the National Welfare Rights Organization “Outstanding Woman of the Year,” and the Dekalb County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award.
In 1996, Chapman arranged to have her body donated to Emory University for medical research.
Chapman Puckett requests that donations be made to the charity of one’s choice.
Chapman Puckett plans to announce a date and time for a celebration for Pat in the near future.
(END / 2011)