Frank Chapin

Frank Chapin, age 92, of Willmar, died Friday afternoon, November 4, 2016 at Bethesda Grand in Willmar.
Memorial service will be held at 11 AM, Friday, November 11, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar. Visitation will be Thursday, November 10, from 4 to 7 PM at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar, and also 1 hour prior to the service at Calvary Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Calvary Lutheran Church, Safe Avenues and Habitat for Humanity in Willmar. Military Honors will be provided by the Austin F. Hanscom American Legion Post 167 of Willmar. Burial will be at a later date at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.
Frank Evans Chapin was born April 9, 1924 in Willmar, the youngest of 4 children of Samuel Birch Chapin and Amelia Jane Leslie Chapin. He grew up in Willmar and attended Willmar High School, where he excelled in athletics, primarily baseball and basketball. Besides athletic prowess, he was known to have written a poem or two (a couple that survive were written to express his love of and admiration for his mother). He graduated from Willmar High School in 1942, and in December of that year he enlisted in the United States Navy, where he was trained to be a naval aviator. His love of aviation and flying was a lifelong pursuit. Frank was stationed at various locations while in the Navy, among them San Diego, El Centro, CA, and Great Lakes Naval Air Station near Chicago. The war ended before his training was completed, and he was honorably discharged at that time. He returned to Willmar and joined his father and brother Elmo in the electrical business that Sam had first started in 1920. A great deal of their work back then involved retrofitting farm houses that were getting "electrified" for the first time. They also wired many new houses in Willmar. As the business grew, they took on larger commercial and industrial projects, among them the Paynesville School, steel tank plant in New London, and Willmar Nursing Home. Now, of course, Willmar Electric Service, managed by the fourth generation of Chapins, has grown far beyond Sam's vision, into a multinational electrical business. On October 18, 1947, Frank married Shirley Langager, and they enjoyed almost 64 years together before Shirley passed away on July 29, 2011. Frank & Shirley, both very social people, traveled a lot with friends, wintered in Arizona for many years, played a lot of golf, made a lot of new friends, had a lot of fun. Frank always kept very busy, whether running the family business, devoting 27 years to the Fire Department (he was chief for over a dozen years), serving the Chamber of Commerce (including a term as its president), serving on the board of directors of Bremer Bank, spending time with his family, hunting pheasants with his sons, son-in-law and grandsons and walking around the golf course. Much gratitude is owed to the staff at Bethesda Grand for the loving and conscientious care they gave him during the last months of his life.
Frank is survived by his 3 children: Mike (married to Deb Mikelson) Chapin of Mendota Heights, Bruce Chapin of Belgrade, and Deb (and Mike) Langmo. Also surviving are 5 grandchildren; David (and Linsey) Langmo,, Patrick (and Sara) Chapin, Krystal Chapin (and Jeremy Hilker), Dylan Chapin, and Anna Chapin, 8 great grandchildren; Kari, Evan, Carolyn, Charlotte, Clara, Ayden, Korbin, and Gia and nieces and nephews, besides other relatives and many, many friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his wife Shirley, siblings Jessee Chapin Meehan, Leslie Birch Chapin, and Samuel Elmo Chapin.

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