Arthur Chapman III, O.D., passed away this past Thursday morning at Maine Medical Center.  He was 79.  Arthur was born to Elaine Roney Chapman and Arthur Chapman Jr. on October 20, 1944, in New York where his father was stationed in the Navy.  Arthur attended Cape Elizabeth schools from kindergarten through graduation, then the University of Maine at Orono, then onto the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.  He then moved back to Maine with his wife, Carol and daughter, Sarah.  He then started his optometric practice in Standish, right in the basement of the home they purchased.  This office was utilized only for a few years before he moved to a larger space that he shared with the Standish physician at the time.  He then later purchased the former Standish Post Office, and had it redesigned as an optometry office, where he remained until he retired in 2013.

Arthur had a variety of interests through his lifetime, one of his first was lobstering off the coast of Cape Elizabeth as a teenager and young man. This transformed into a love of boating later, and taking his wife, and various greyhounds out on Sebago Lake for rides in the boat.  He was a charter member of the Standish Lions club, and a member of the Maine Track club.  He was an avid runner and ran a total of 8 marathons in the late 70's and early 80's, until an Achilles tendon tear ended his marathoning.  He continued to maintain a home exercise regimen after that and managed to stay in great shape without the marathon training.

This led to his next passion, traveling to South America with Global Health Volunteers.  Arthur took (almost) yearly mission trips to South America to care for the eyes of Chulucanas, Peru for the next 20 years.  During those years he developed the first optometric office in Chulucanas.  He coordinated the transport of exam chairs, eyeglasses, eye exam machines, tools, and medicines via container ships, and established care for people who never had it.  This allowed his patients and their families to see better, (or have a foreign body removed, or learn they have cataracts, glaucoma, or macular degeneration).  He also taught his patients how to protect their eyes from the brutal sun of South America.  The office he established in Chulucanas remains active to this day, continuing to host lines of patients every year.  Optometry students from Philadelphia continue to care for the beautiful people of Chulucanas, in the practice that Arthur created.

Arthur is predeceased by his parents, Elaine and Arthur Jr., his cousins Richard Chapman and Patricia Chapman. Arthur is survived by his daughter Sarah Chapman and her partner Chris Pillsbury, and son Andrew Chapman and his wife Leslee Peterson.  Arthur is also survived by his former spouse, who has been a faithful companion in these last two years, Carol Chapman.  He is survived also by his siblings, Susan Chapman, Ellen Chapman and her husband Jack Erler, and Jonathan Chapman and his wife Ann and their children Mary Ann Chapman and Jonathan Chapman Jr. and their respective families, as well as Arthur's 2 grandchildren Jacob Lufkin and Samuel Lufkin.

Services for Arthur will be held at Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland, Maine on Sunday July 7, 2024. Visiting hours will be from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., and a service and celebration of his life will be held at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:

Global Health Ministry

3805 West Chester Pike, Suite 100

Newton Square, PA 19073

(610) 355-2003

https://www.globalhealthvolunteers.net/support/donate