Frank Deuel Chapman and Gloria Ellen Mayhan Chapman

FC: (Indecipherable)

DB: Yes.

FC: Is it running?

DB: Yes, it's running. This is Debbie Blansett with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing Oral History Project. The date is November 10, 2020, and I'm sitting here with Frank and Gloria Chapman at their--in their home, and they're going to tell me a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, if you'll give me your full name.

FC: Frank Deuel Chapman.

GC: Gloria Ellen Mayhan Chapman.

DB: Alright, that's all of us. We're ready to begin. What was your name at birth?

FC: Born January the 26, 1934 in Cleveland, Oklahoma.

DB: And you were Frank Deuel--

FC: Deuel Chapman.

DB: Were you born at home or in a hospital?

FC: At home.

DB: And your parents--what were their names?

FC: Hugh Chapman and Thelma Chapman.

DB: And were your parents married?

FC: (chuckling) Yes, they were married.

DB: Or at least that's what they told you.

FC: (chuckling) That's what they told me.

DB: Tell me how they came to be in Oklahoma.

FC: My mother came to Oklahoma from Kansas in a covered wagon to a little community outside of Stillwater, and they lived in a sod house for a while and eventually they moved to Cleveland, Oklahoma, where her folks--Mrs. Deuel and Albert Deuel--ran a hotel and boarding house. And the whole family participated in the running of the--feeding of workers and housing. So it was kind of a nice operation.

GC: Mmm-hmm.

DB: And your dad?

FC: My dad came to Oklahoma after serving in World War II.

GC: One, hon.

FC: Oh, World War I. Gee, I kinda--that's right. World War I, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he was a licensed mortician--or embalmer, and worked there for a little while and then moved to Cleveland, Oklahoma and operated out of one of the furniture stores there for about a year or so, and then opened his own business--the Chapman Funeral Home. And it's still in existence. It's called Chapman-Black, now.

DB: And he runs it with his son-in-law--or I mean he ran it with his son-in--

FC: Yeah--he run it with his son-in-law.

DB: And you said that--that he had a claim to fame, your father.

FC: Yeah, he was one of the first legal embalmers in the State of Oklahoma. (chuckles)

DB: And pretty young, when he became that.

FC: Yeah, about I think nineteen, something like that.

DB: How many brothers and sisters do you have?

FC: I have two sisters and one brother.

DB: And their names?

FC: Betty Jo (ph), Billie Lou (ph), and Hugh Moody, Jr.

DB: Your father was a mortician, did your mother work outside the home?

FC: She--yes. She--initially, she worked outside the home. She worked in a bank as a secretary and teller. And then when they opened their own business she went to work with them.

DB: And your spouse, Mrs. Gloria.

FC: Yeah.

GC: I graduated from high school and went to work for the REA--or the Indian Electric, then. And worked a year 'til he graduated. So then we got married. (chuckles)

DB: Okay. And you got married on what day?

FC: Fourteenth day of June 1952.

DB: And you have how many children?

FC: Four.

DB: And what are their names?

FC: Deborah Jean, Frank Deuel Chapman, Jr., Benj Clay--Benjamin Chapman, and Matthew Clay Chapman.

DB: Alright. Okay, so today you're going to tell me a little bit about how you ended up in Bristow, and spent your time here.

FC: Okay. I graduated from medical school in 1961. Did a residency--an internship in Tulsa--Hillcrest. And then a residency in primary practice in Huey Long--P. Long Charity in Louisiana. We moved from there to Cleveland, Oklahoma and opened a practice there. And being a young man there and a citizen of the 00:05:00community, and was still looked down upon as, That little Frankie Chapman, I decided it was probably time to move somewhere else. Although eventually it would've probably worked out. But anyway, Max Kemp came to visit me there while I was practicing, and said that he would like for me to come to Bristow and meet the people, because they needed a doctor and their doctor was leaving town--who was Dr. Norfleet. So I went to visit. I went to Dr. Norfleet's home in Bristow. It was on a Wednesday evening. And they had several people there, and they were having a nice party and I thought, Well, this would be a nice place to live, you know? Anyway, he was very gracious and I thought it over and I decided to come. To Bristow. I came to Bristow on--I started practice on June 1, 1964. And I was at the Bristow Hospital on the first day of my journey, and talking to Norfleet, 00:06:00and he was telling me what he had to do. And then he said, Hey, by the way, would you like to deliver a baby? And I said, Why not?

DB: (chuckling)

FC: So I delivered Rinda Farris that very day of my first day in practice in the Bristow Hospital. I had a office on West Eighth Street--which was the old Sisler Hospital when I first came to town--and I mean it was old. Antiquated. X-ray machine looked like the original Roentgen--who's invented x-ray--put it in.

DB: (chuckles)

FC: But anyway, made do until we got enough money together so we could get a better one. Which we did, eventually. I started my practice there, then subsequently moved from there to on West Fifth Street where I--we remodeled an old building and had my office. And I retired out of that office. I delivered 00:07:00babies for the first few years in practice, and in the mid-70s I quit delivering babies just to get some rest. (chuckles)

DB: (chuckles)

FC: Invariably when I'd go off to do something and then I'd come home and lay down and go to sleep, it would be, Dr., this is the hospital, Mrs. So-and-so's in labor and, you know, you'd be completely wore out. So, I did that for two or three or four years, and finally I said, That's enough. I'm not doing that any more. So I quit ob. I helped the hospital get some modernization. We got the first intensive care beds in our hospital--with monitoring from St. Francis with them--we got that done. Then we got a new monitored crib for newborns, and then 00:08:00subsequently all of the doctors quit delivering babies. (laughing) So we didn't get much use out of it.

DB: When did that start--that they stopped delivering babies?

FC: Oh, it was in--

GC: When Matt was born.

FC: When Matt? I think Matt was the last one born out there.

DB: So, like, in the late sixties?

FC: Yeah, yeah. I delivered my own, and on occasions I delivered of some of the other doctors--I mean, Dr. Krug or Dr. Cooper's babies when they needed sections, 'cause they couldn't do sections. I--I did 'em for 'em.

DB: So they continued after the sixties.

FC: Yeah, they continued after I quit. But they--then they--after they got tired, they (chuckles) also gave it up.

DB: Well now, when you came to Bristow on Eighth Street, did you take the office--

FC: Of the old doctor?

DB: Of Dr. Norfleet--

FC: Oh, Dr. Norfleet. Dr. Norfleet. And it was old. I mean really old.

GC: And they (indecipherable) a hospital

DB: And you kept his people?

FC: Kept his people, and--he had a nice practice. And a lot of nice people. And 00:09:00he--he had 'em spoiled, though.

GC: (laughing)

FC: He--they'd say, Well, wait--I don't feel like comin' down today, will you come by the house? you know, and they--that stuff. And I did that for a while! And finally I said, No, I'm not doing that anymore. If they call, say, No, he's quit making house calls, you have to come see him. That's all there is to it.

DB: So they stayed with you as long as you stayed on Eighth, and then you got new staff when you moved to Fifth?

FC: No, I--they took 'em with--I took my staff with me over to the Fifth Street. I took--Charmaine went over with me, and Jo Forester went with me. And they stayed. And then Charmaine moved off. And then Jo retired, and then we got--and also June Keiser (ph) was our receptionist, and she stayed there, and then she got sick and then retired. So--

GC: And then Dr. Mitchell's wife?

FC: And then I had--

DB: Edna?

FC: Yeah.

GC: Edna.

FC: I had Edna Mitchell for a while in my lab. And then, I think, Thea Runt (ph) worked in our lab for us. And Mrs.--oh, gosh.

GC: Charmaine, though I can't remember her last name.

FC: Yeah, I was thinking--

GC: That's awful.

FC: Myra Jane Trigalet was my office nurse for a year. And then she went to--I hated to lose her--she went to the nursing home 'cause they could pay more money than I could. (chuckling) But that--she was a delight. I mean, a real delight.

DB: Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm. (agreeing)

FC: I don't--I don't know whether you knew her or not, but--

DB: I don't know that I knew her. I remember Larry's mother speaking fondly of her.

FC: She was--I-- She was made of cast iron. She lost a son who was electrocuted. One lost in the war. Lost two in car wrecks in Tulsa--killed one day over there. 00:11:00And she kept on going, you know, I don't know how but she did. And she was just a delightful person. Her and Mrs. Korkames were the building blocks of the Catholic church! (laughing) And every Christmas they had the Christmas sales for cookies and what have you, and everybody shopped with them up there.

DB: They still do that.

FC: Yeah. We do, we still buy their stuff.

DB: Mmm-hmm. (agreeing)

FC: But that was kind of neat.

DB: So, at the--at the hospital, they--it had been built in the--

FC: Built in 1954, I think.

DB: And so it was still--

FC: It was--

DB: It needed to be updated--

FC: It needed to be updated--

DB: --and they were behind--

FC: --and they, they needed new things. Like, they needed monitoring systems for cardiac patients in the intensive care unit--which we got. Initially, we got it on a remote basis from St. Francis. We had a direct line from St. Francis to our 00:12:00emergency room and they--the nurses could talk to St. Francis, tell them what our patients had, what we needed to do, and how to do it. And that went on a while, and then finally we got our nurses educated and they could do their own evaluations and treatment.

DB: So did you have to have big fundraisers to get these--

FC: I--I--I---

DB: How did you?

FC: --went up and down Main Street! (chuckling) Talked to people, said We need this, can you, can you help us out? And we got it done.

DB: You said that when you were new in town, you had gone to the bank.

FC: Yeah! I went to meet--I went to talk to Tracy Kelly when I come to town, and told him I was a new doctor in town and that I had a thousand dollars in my pocket and I probably was going to need some money to open my office and keep it going for a while, and I wondered if I could get a loan if I needed it. And he said, Write the check. And so--but I never had to do that.

DB: Well. That's nice to know it was there if you--

FC: Oh, yeah!

DB: --needed to.

FC: Yeah.

GC: They took us on a hayride, we--(indecipherable)

FC: --I had one other story: I--I went--well, I was in the bank, and then the Rexall Drug Store was right next door, and--(aside) what was her name?

GC: Myra?

FC: Huh? No.

DB: The Rexall.

FC: Oh, it was--

GC: Oh--Bert, Berth--

FC: Bertha! Berta. (ph)

GC: Berta! (ph)

FC: Berta. (ph) Anyway. Berta (ph) was there. And I went in there and asked about something and she was really indignant, you know? And just really giving me old billy hell, you know, about why she's doing this and that, and I thought, Okay, well I've got a big surprise. She said, Who are you, boy? And I said, I'm the new doctor in town. I'm going to write prescriptions in this community and WHOOOO-WELL! (pounding noise)

DB: Complete change in her attitude!

FC: (loudly) Here we are, welcome to--welcome to Bristow! (laughing)

GC: (laughing)

FC: So I thought that was kind of neat.

DB: Yes.

FC: And we got along fine after that. No problems.

DB: And Max--you didn't know Max before he came to see you in Cleveland?

FC: No. I'd never met him before.

DB: Did you continue to be friends after he came to see you in--

FC: Oh, yeah, we were real good friends. I went out and hunted on his place, and talked to him about guns and--you know.

GC: Well, you delivered their baby.

FC: Yeah. I delivered Rin--I delivered Rinda on the first and about the tenth or twelfth I delivered Jennifer.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

FC: Kemp.

DB: Just right after you came here.

FC: Yeah. So I delivered two babies within two weeks after I got here.

DB: Oh, wow. (laughing) Say, This is a young man, we're gonna get him while he's--

FC: Yeah, while he's--

DB: --his legs are good.

FC: --while he's fresh, you know.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

FC: Anyway. That's--that's about the only good stories I've got, other than about Dr. King, you know. I don't know whether I've told that or not, but. 00:15:00Emor--(chuckles) Emory King (ph) was quite a man. He was in his nine--

DB: Emory? (ph)

FC: Emory King. (ph)

DB: Emory. (ph)

FC: He would--came here in about the early 1900s. And he was one of a kind. He met me at the hospital one day and said, Would you like to go my--see my farm? And I told him, Yeah. I'd like to do that. So I got in the car with him and the first thing he did was unwrapped a new package of tobacco, promptly poured it in his coat pocket, dipped his pipe in it and lit it, then we backed up and run into something and went Bang! And he says, Time to go forward now. And then we took off and--

DB: Oh, my goodness.

FC: We took--took off and went to his farm. Aand we got back safe and sound, by the way.

DB: And he was an older man when this happened?

FC: He was in his nineties. Anyway.

GC: But he was loved. (chuckles)

FC: I--I swore then that I would never ride with him again, you know? But two or three days later he said, Do you do tonsils, doctor? And I said, Yeah, I do tonsils. He said, I got one scheduled in the morning. And I said, Who's gonna give the anesthesia? And he said, Oh, I am. And I thought, Oh, God. Help me, Lord. Why did I volunteer for this? But anyway, I got up. I didn't sleep all night the night before. And I got up and we went in and scrubbed up. Took the patient to surgery. He got an ether mask and a can and started dripping ether. The kid went to sleep. I took his tonsils out. We didn't have any problem whatsoever. And I thank the Lord for every bit of that, I'll tell you for sure. Because I was uptight the whole time.

One other incident--he was--he had one of his patients come to see me. And we'd 00:17:00had some words before. And she come in very humble and said, Would you take care of me? And I said, Why sure, I'm gonna do it. And I said, Well what's the problem? And she said, Well, I've--you know, I've been going to Dr. King forever. He's been here forever. And I just dearly love him, but she said, I think he's too old. And I said, Well, why do--why do you think that? She said, Well I went over there yesterday and, she said, I had a sore throat and he looked at me and said, Well, we'll give you a shot. He said, Hike your dress tail up there and I'll give you a shot. She said, I did. And he give me a shot, but he stuck me in the finger instead of in my butt!

DB: (laughing)

GC: (laughing)

FC: And she decided that right then and there that she needed to change doctors.

DB: (laughing) Yes. Yes.

FC: I think that's a--that's a unique story about Dr. King.

DB: Well--and I found it interesting when you talked about the anesthetic. That it was a ether drop.

FC: Yeah, ether drip.

DB: A lot different than the anesthetic that we have now.

GC: He did.

FC: Oh, yeah, they don't do that now. Number one, ether is a fire hazard. I mean--you can't have any spark or it blows the damn building up. So, that was a hazard. And then--it wasn't real handy. And the people were sick after they got it. And they got a lot better anesthetics now.

DB: Yes.

FC: They give IV anesthetics and (indecipherable).

DB: But the fact that--that's how you did those surgeries.

FC: Yeah. Yeah.

DB: That's a pretty amazing thing.

GC: And-and you know--

DB: To see that we started here-you started here, and now it's progressed--

FC: Yeah.

DB: --to where we are now.

GC: Uh-huh. (agreeing)

FC: Yeah.

GC: Yeah.

FC: Yeah. The anesthesia has really changed. And--and our hospital's changed. We've been--went from a storage hospital to a hospital that actually treated people, you know. We just stored 'em. I mean, we had a--we developed an intensive care unit with a monitoring system and this monitoring system was initially connected to St. Francis by a phone wire that was permanent. And they 00:19:00could monitor these people in conjunction with us, and we could keep our people at home. Which was nice.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

FC: That took some doing.

DB: And you were in practice from--

FC: Sixty-four to--

DB: Nineteen sixty-four--

FC: To July 1, 2000.

DB: And you just hung it all up then, in 2000?

FC: For a little--about three months.

DB: (laughs)

GC: (laughs)

DB: And then what did you do?

FC: Started doing locals--working for other doctors. I worked for--

GC: The Cherokees.

FC: What was her name here? What was her name here?

GC: Ummm.

FC: You know who I'm talking about. The lady doctor that was up on Main Street.

GC: Oh! Yeah.

FC: Well, I can't think of her name.

GC: I can't--

FC: But I did it for the people here. Did work for the other doctors when they wanted to go on--on vacation. And then at other places. I've worked in Nowata 00:20:00and Sallisaw and Stilwell and other places.

GC: That was the Cherokees, he was filling in.

FC: Yeah, and just filling in. And I did this until I was, oh, eighty-five. And then I--I had a misfortune. I was helping a man fix our tv antennae. Fell backwards in the closet. Bumped my head, and didn't think anything about it. Two weeks later, I went to work and I started to write and I couldn't write. My hand wouldn't go in the right ways.

DB: Oh!

FC: And I went home and I told my--I told the attending there, I said, I've--I've got to leave. There's something wrong. He offered to drive me home, but I said, No, I can drive, don't worry. So I got, went home and got her. And we were gonna go pay our taxes. And I couldn't get the damned car in the parking lot--as big as this damned house.

DB: Mmm-mmm.

FC: And she said, I'm gonna call Matt. That's our oldest son--I mean, our 00:21:00youngest son. And he came over and he drove us to No--to Owasso where my daughter was a physician. And they did a scan on my head and I had a midline shift on my brain from a bleed. And they sent me to Tulsa and the next morning I was in hospital and had holes bored in my head and the blood clots removed and recovered in about six months. And I was back going again. And I--I did a little bit, not much. And I decided it was time to quit.

DB: That was pretty much it.

GC: Yeah.

FC: Time to quit. But--

DB: Well, that sounds like a pretty exciting career. You are active in the Methodist Church here in Bristow?

FC: Yes, ma'am.

DB: Sunday school teacher?

FC: No, no. I just kind of go and watch and--

GC: Yeah, he's been going to each Sunday, he very seldom ever misses a time--

FC: Yeah, and try to help them with their finances and things like that. I was 00:22:00there--don't you go to--

DB: Yes.

FC: We don't get many people. (chuckles)

DB: No. We--

FC: Count of ten! (chuckles)

DB: Yes. Kind of thin, now. Were you a Sunday school teacher, Gloria?

GC: I helped out some. But I mostly was the choir, you know. I was in--I guess I sang in that choir for about thirty-something years. Dixie was my best friend.

DB: Do anything--and Dixie was your best friend. She's a good one.

GC: Yeah, we did some--we'd sing together. We did some funeral services and--

FC: Yeah.

GC: But she was. She--I loved my Dixie.

DB: And I know that you have been--I've seen you in the past at the high school for wrestling.

FC: Yeah! I have supported the wrestling team. I used to go to all the football games and all the wrestling but it seems that as I got older, they didn't seem 00:23:00as important as they used to. They--then they were really important when the kids were parti--my children were participating.

DB: Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.

GC: We--

FC: My daughter was a majorette in the--or, a drum major her senior year, and--

GC: And in the band.

FC: The kids played this and that. The kids wrassled a little bit, but not much.

DB: And you said that your nephew?

FC: (Indecipherable)

DB: --was the big wrestler?

FC: Yeah, he was two-time state champion in 19--oh, 59. No, 19--58, '59, '59 and '60, I think. About then.

DB: And his name?

FC: Hugh. Chapman. They called him H.

GC: Well, he has a Debbie Chapman, too. His mama. You probably know her.

DB: Debbie Chapman?

GC: Uh-huh. (agreeing)

DB: Yes.

FC: That's his mama.

GC: Yeah, her--

FC: That's my nephew.

GC: --her mother and daddy owned a funeral home in Hominy. And there were about six of those kids, all together.

DB: Debbie owned a funeral home?

FC: Her--his, her--

GC: Her mo--her father.

FC: Her father did.

DB: Her father.

GC: Her father.

DB: So there's a Chapman now that's a Debbie Chapman--Deborah Chapman. And she's married to H.M.?

GC: Yeah.

DB: So this is like his--your nephew's son?

GC: They're named after each other, aren't they?

DB: Oh, okay.

FC: Yeah.

GC: Isn't that right?

DB: Because he was a wrestler, and then he had boys--they had two boys that--

GC: Yeah, two boys.

DB: --were big wrestlers.

FC: Yeah. And one was--

DB: Jack, and--

FC: --and you had H.

DB: Mmm-hmm. (agreeing)

FC: Yeah.

DB: So--and you--your boys really liked hunting and fishing.

FC: Yeah, they did.

GC: And music.

FC: And--

DB: And music.

GC: Lots of music.

FC: Yeah. Yeah. Matt was in the band. And Benny was in the band. No--Matt was in the band about a month, and then he quit. But Benny was in the band and he--and Frankie was in the--Frankie played the tuba, and Benny--what the hell did he play?

GC: I don't know about Frank--

FC: Well, he played the drums. Benny was the drummer. I always did cry because he had them damned kettle drums, you know, about three or four of 'em and you couldn't haul 'em in the car. I had to have a truck.

GC: (laughing)

DB: (laughing) Yes. Same way with a tuba.

FC: They had a tuba--

DB: 'Cause we had a tuba player at our house.

FC: Yeah? Well we happened to have--Frankie played the tuba, too. And he was a little bitty boy! I couldn't understand that.

GC: You could just see his little head. (laughing)

FC: Couldn't hardly see him for the horn! (laughing)

GC: He was our smallest. Our oldest boy was--is the smallest of the boys.

FC: Yeah, he's about five-six, I imagine.

DB: And what do they do? Your daughter is a physician.

FC: Yeah. Frankie was a mechanic. That was my oldest son. And Benny was a highway patrolman. And Matt is an Edward Jones financial counselor.

DB: Okay. Okay. Are they close? Do they live close?

FC: Well, Frankie lives in Morgan City, Louisiana. Debbie lives in Owasso--or that's Collinsville, now. But just part time. They live there part-time and they live in Belize the other half of the time.

DB: Oh, she does mission work?

FC: No, they just live down there.

DB: (laughs)

GC: Well, in a way she does, because she--if there's any little kids--which there's a bunch that needs taken care of and they don't have any doctor to help them in this--out. And so, she's just took it on herself to take care of 'em and--

FC: Benny--

GC: --no charge, no nothing, you know, just--she loves kid--she loves kids.

FC: Benny--Benny lives in Sapulpa, and he is the one that was a policeman and trooper. State trooper.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

FC: Matthew lives in--damn.

GC: The college town.

FC: Man, I'm a little--my new senior moments are getting me.

DB: (chuckles)

FC: Anyway. Where NSU--wherever you know where that--

DB: Tahlequah!

GC: Tahlequah!

FC: Tahlequah! Okay, he--he's a--he's a financial counselor. Or he has an Edward Jones office there.

DB: So they're all--except the one in Louisiana--they're fairly close and you get to see them, and--

FC: Yeah! They're real close.

GC: Yeah. And we just lost a grandson.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

GC: And it was his boy. They had a--

DB: Was Matt--Matt's son?

FC: No, was Frankie's son.

DB: Oh.

GC: Frankie's son.

FC: Frankie's son. He was thirty-five years old.

GC: (simultaneously) Thirty-five years old.

DB: That's a--that's a tough loss.

GC: It--it really is. I just feel so sorry for 'em. They had the boy and the girl. The girl was the oldest. And she has two children of her own. And they're in--is it Atlanta?

FC: Hmm?

GC: Rachel.

FC: Yeah, they live in South Carolina. I don't know what the name of the town is.

GC: Do you remember when they had a singer named Petula?

DB: Clark?

GC: I think it was--

FC: Yeah. Yeah, it was from England.

GC: Well, he wanted a girl the last time. Wanted to name her Petula.

FC: That was just--

GC: Well, the nurses at the hospital were just going bananas. They said, He surely--you're not gonna let him name that--if it's a girl--Petula. Said, Well, I don't know! (chuckles)

DB: Didn't have to worry about it, because you had a boy.

FC: Had a boy!

GC: Oh, they were just thrilled to death! (laughs) And Doctor Jones delivered him. But Frank was in there with me. And so I leaned over on his shoulder and they gave me the--whatever it is, the shot.

FC: Yeah.

GC: And it was the best delivery I'd ever had!

DB: So they--would that--was that commonplace? To at that time in 1967--that the dad would be with the mom? Or was it because you were--

FC: I think it was because I was a doctor.

DB: Okay.

GC: (laughing) He kept waiting to see Petula!

DB: (laughing) It wasn't a normal thing like now?

FC: No.

DB: Where dads--

FC: Where the whole damn family's in there! You know?

DB: Uh-huh. (agreeing)

GC: No--

DB: Well, before COVID.

FC: Yeah, COVID.

DB: Now it's just so bad.

FC: Now they can't gather up--

DB: But--couldn't wait to see your Petula!

FC: Couldn't wait to see her! You know, we got it, though.

GC: Your Petula? And then, our minister then was Reverend Fontaine.

DB: Mmm-hmm.

GC: And so he came out there. And he said, Oh, I'm just so glad the Methodists are still (laughing)

DB: That the Methodists are what?

GC: --still having children! (laughing) I guess--

DB: (laughing)

GC: He said it different, but he just kind of giggled. And then the--the other kids, they just couldn't wait to see him.

FC: He said, When is Mark and Luke and John coming?

GC: Oh, yeah! He said--

FC: I said, I don't think that--(laughing)

DB: But you had Benjamin and Matthew, but Frank wasn't--

FC: No, he didn't come until--

DB: Oh, okay.

GC: Now, there is a Deuel in the Bible.

DB: Really!

GC: Mmm-hmm. (agreeing)

DB: A duel like--a fight?

FC: No, like a name!

GC: You leave out one 'e,' so--

DB: You leave out one of the e's.

GC: D-U-E-L instead of the D-U-

FC: E-L.

GC: Yeah.

DB: E-U-E

FC: Yeah.

GC: But, and--and then Deborah. There's a Deborah in the Bible.

DB: Yes.

GC: But you probably knew that.

FC: And a Matthew.

GC: And a Matthew.

DB: And a Benjamin.

FC & GC (simultaneously): And a Benjamin.

FC: Well, all of our kids are--

DB: You're covered.

FC: They're covered.

DB: You're covered.

FC: They're gonna make it to heaven. You know? Their name counts. (laughing)

DB: Well, I just--

FC: I think they'll (indecipherable) James or Williams!

DB: I just think it's really neat that--that just the distance you've come. And the people that helped get you there--that Max Kemp came, and Tracy was willing to help you out, and the time you spent, and the connections you made, and the 00:31:00families you helped. I just love hearing the stories.

And we had a little bit of a glitch at the beginning of this interview. We did the entire interview, and the recorder wasn't on. So Dr. Chapman and Gloria allowed me to re-do the interview immediately. Some of the artifacts that I'm going to attach to this are a--a medal that he received as a fifty-year college of medicine--

FC: Alumni.

DB: Alumni. And a pic--it's a medal, a picture of the medal will go with this and a picture of the--

GC: Here's another one. This is all the doctors--

DB: Of the doctors that were present at the fifty-year ceremony.

GC: This--

DB: So I'll add those. And then the last one I added was a poem that their daughter Deborah wrote for them on the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary. 00:32:00It says, Frank and Gloria Chapman, Life Together. It all started in a small town/Frank lived there his entire life/He was uptown and wasn't believing/He saw the girl he would make his wife/They courted all through junior and high school/They decided let's get married and then/We can set about building our life and begin/Frank pondered what would we do with our lives/Gloria said go to medical school, you're no fool/We can treat animals or people, whatever you choose/As long as we are together, we have nothing to lose/With the love and help from both families/They survived college, medical school, and internships/They traveled near and far, scrimped and saved/Went the distance that was set/So they could make their own way/They started their family with a 00:33:00small girl/Then came three boys/All with their handsome looks, dark hair, and blue eyes/Everyone would always recognize/A Chapman child was truly a blessing/For Frank and Gloria, life kept on being a lesson/Through weddings, babies, life, and death/In love and in loss, we all learned the meaning/ Of true love, family, and commitment/Their love is a lesson for all to receive/You never know what will happen when you truly believe/As long as you are together you can achieve/Anything is possible as long as you believe. June 14, 1952 through eternity.

I want to thank you all again for allowing me--twice!--to interview you for the Bristow Historical Society's Oral Histories Project. And if you don't have anything else to share, I'm going to sign off.

FC: Alright.

GC: Well, we've enjoyed having you!

FC: Yeah!

DB: Well, thank you very much.

GC: We really have and I--like I told Frank, I said I can remember back, I always thought they were the sweetest couple--and then that baby was just a doll.

DB: Well, thank you very much.

GC: So.

(end of recording)