{"id":27309,"date":"2026-01-13T08:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=27309"},"modified":"2026-01-14T09:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:50:53","slug":"james-lee-chapman-sr-75-of-hidalgo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/27309-james-lee-chapman-sr-75-of-hidalgo\/","title":{"rendered":"James Lee Chapman, Sr. (75) of Hidalgo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>James Lee Chapman, Sr, age 75, of Hidalgo, Illinois, passed away at 2:44 PM &#8211; Monday, January 12, 2026, at his home.<\/p>\n<p>A service celebrating Jim\u2019s life will be held at 12:00 PM (Noon) \u2013 Monday, January 19, 2026, at the Meyer Funeral Home in Newton, Illinois, with Mike Knepper officiating.\u00a0 The burial will be in the Aten Cemetery in Hidalgo, Illinois.\u00a0 A visitation for family and friends will be held from 10:00 AM until service time.\u00a0 In loving memory of Jim, memorials may be made to the Jasper County Cancer Support Group, PO Box 333, Newton, Illinois 62448.\u00a0 The obituary can be viewed and condolence left at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.meyerfh.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.meyerfh.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1768490925953000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0_R5INxuKj7inW5-txCbEL\">www.meyerfh.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>James Lee, better known as Jim, was born on February 12, 1950, in Effingham, Illinois, the son of Jerry Wayne and Agnes Margaret (Rentz) Chapman.\u00a0 He graduated from Newton Community High School with the Class of 1968.\u00a0 Jim married Judy Ann Richardson on November 10, 1967, in Henderson, Kentucky, and she survives.<\/p>\n<p>Jim worked for Rich-Law FS which later became Wabash Valley FS for 40 years.\u00a0 He worked in all capacities with the company and in later years delivered propane to area farmers and homeowners. Jim took pride in taking care of his yard and liked to tinker on things and could fix almost anything.\u00a0 He enjoyed fishing and camping with his family. Jim trained and raced standardbred horses and bowled in area leagues for several years.\u00a0 He was a mentor to his family, especially his children and was their biggest fan in all their sports activities.<\/p>\n<p>Jim is survived by: Wife of 58 years \u2013 Judy Ann Chapman of Hidalgo, Illinois; Children \u2013 James Lee \u201cJim\u201d Chapman, Jr of Willow Hill, Illinois; Angela (Damon) Atkins of Lexington, Indiana; and Heidi (James) Willenborg of Greenup, Illinois; Grandchildren \u2013 Dakota Willenborg, Cierra Willenborg, Autumn Willenborg, Jacob (Elissa) Ochs, Lucas (Haley) Ochs, Brayden Atkins, Jackson Chapman, and Claire Chapman; Great Grandchildren \u2013 Blaykelee Chapman, Ella Grace Ochs, Ryker Ochs, Rynley Ochs, Bryson Willenborg and Colton Donsbach; Brother \u2013 Eddie \u201cSid\u201d Chapman of Cynthiana, Kentucky.<\/p>\n<p>Jim was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Larry Chapman and Jerry Chapman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James died the afternoon of Monday, January 12<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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