Obituary

Services for Alvin Artel Chapman, 72, of Clovis, N.M., will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2003, at Resthavens Abbey Chapel. Burial will be in Abernathy Cemetery under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home. He passed away in the home of his daughter on Friday, May 9, 2003. Artel was born April 12, 1931, in Stephens County, Okla., to Daniel Edward and Myrtle Mae Mitchell Chapman.

He moved to Abernathy in 1939 and graduated from Abernathy High School in 1949. He served his country for four years in the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Korean War. He returned to Abernathy and then to Lubbock. He married Patsy Jo Thompson in Lovington, N.M., on Nov. 23, 1956. Upon his graduation from Texas Tech in 1958, he took a position with Civil Service at Cannon Air Force Base as an auditor. The family moved from Portales to Clovis in 1959 and were residents there until his death. He was a member of Central Christian Church in Clovis, N.M. Artel loved playing golf and raising a garden. He loved traveling in their RV and spending time with his family. Artel was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, and two sisters.

He is survived by his wife; his daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Bill Ratcliff of Lubbock; grandchildren, Stephen, Kali, and Anjali Ratcliff of Lubbock; sisters, Virdean Wilson of Velma, Okla., Berniece (Sis) Emerson of Auburn, Wash., and Juanice (Mick) Rosenstein of Apache Junction, Ariz.; and many nieces and nephews.